Saturday saw the hill running folk appear from hibernation and descend upon Slieve Gullion . A short and fast race to start the season off with just over 6 k and nearly 300 metres elevation. Alan Ritchie was home in a strong 37.11 for 15th place followed by Geoff Smyth in 40.10 , new recruit Luke Terry in 41.27 and Ian Taylor in 68.44.
Photography by Alan Magee …..New Barfer Luke Terry in action on Saturday.
Time to blow the cobwebs off the mudclaws and talons folks , the season kicks off this Saturday 7 March at 12 o clock with the Slieve Gullion race !
https://www.nimra.org.uk/index.php/events/event/slieve-gullion-8/
Last weekend saw some of our athletes take in the ‘We Run Wild NI’s midnight marathon ‘ starting at the iconic Carrickfergus Castle and taking in the trails and lanes in and around the area .
Starting at midnight and running into Sunday runners had to make their way to the finish line via a road book provided to them rather than a marked course . Colin Pascoe has a tremendous run coming home third place in 3.58.49 followed by Declan Mc Grellis 4.53.36 and Philip Ward in 5.25.50 . Well done to all on a cold night on a testing course . arf arf !
More details of upcoming races from We Run Wild Ni can be found below
When the call went out for helpers on a recent Denis Rankin Round attempt some of our runners were happy to assist . Moire O’Sullivan and Paul Mahon were about to take on a tough winter round and were overwhelmed with the support from the mountain running community we have in Northern Ireland . Kathleen Monteverde, Susan Lambe , Jackie Toal , Rónán Kernan-Davison and Geoff Smyth all turned out to lend help wherever needed . A host of other runners and helpers from throughout the Nimra family also turned out to help in true mountain spirit.
https://moireosullivan.com/2020/01/30/a-winter-denis-rankin-round-to-remember/
Last Sunday BARF athlete Alan Ritchie took on the Northern Velocity Dogs Leap trail half marathon consisting of three loops on trails . Alan stormed round in 1.19.53 for third place on the podium. Well done . Arf ! Arf ! 
Thursday evening runs for January. All welcome , suits all levels of fitness. Time to start thinking of getting fitter for the summer season.
All starting at 7.15pm . Trail shoes and head torch required.
9th Boat Club car-park.
16th Redburn Forest car-park, main one beside nursing home.
23rd Cavehill. Main carpark just before the Castle Gates
30th Ozone car-park- Road shoes.
All around five to six miles.
Hope to see as many there as can make it, numbers have been low of late , reminder the hard part is getting out the door.😄 New runners always welcome !
Christmas time is usually a time for a lot of runners to ease off a bit and take it easy but not for Barf athlete Philip Ward . Top of his Santa list was for more marathons and Santa truly delivered .
Black eye Friday in December saw him take on the East Antrim Marathon Series Black Eve Marathon which he completed in 4.19 .
On December 30 th he again headed for the East Antrim Marathon series for back to back marathons and completed day1 in 4.18 and day 2 at Monkstown Wood in 4.39 which was a hilly loop with some ice to contend with .
Philip then decided to start 2020 where he had left off in December by heading for Run Armagh and their Beat the January Blues Marathon yesterday morning and completed it in 4.31 . Great running all round ! Well done Arf ! Arf !
On New Years Day the annual Race over the Glens took place at Glenariff Forest Park and saw over 400 runners toe the line for this tough but scenic 9k trail race. Two of our athletes were in action with Alan Ritchie coming home in 21st overall in 40.06 and Geoff Smyth in 59th in 43.34 . Well done to both . Arf ! Arf ! 
This years Cracker took place on Saturday 28th December with the weather looking fine for this time of year . Over 700 pairs lined up this year to take on what would be a tough but enjoyable course in and around Castlewellan and the stunning forest park trails .
There were a number of runners representing BARF on the day . Paddy Mallon and his partner for the day Jamie Thin came home in 1.14.53 followed by Jim Brown and Dominic Mc Greevy in 1.16.51 then Rónán Davison-Kernan and Paul Conway 1.17.01. Geoff Smyth and Natalie Bowbanks went for the fancy dress option as pizza and beer combo and got round in 1.28.14 . Well done to everyone Arf ! Arf !
Geoff and running partner Natalie in disguise at the cracker . Pic by G McClure
As you would have seen before our club runs the Boxing Day Turkey Trot so a big thanks to all our members and friends who helped out on the day .
Rónán Davison-Kernan was first home for our club also on the day with a strong run in 1.05.42 followed by Trevor Wilson in 1.17.33 who also added to his parkrun tally over the festive period . Peter Mc Clenaghan finished in 1.25.54 and Andy Bridge in 1.27.43 .
Mark Hopkins and family at the Christmas Parkrun
Mark Hopkins and family also decided sitting eating turkey for days wasn’t a wise thing to do and they got themselves out for a few festive Park Run sessions .
Denise O’Hagan was also in action at the Brocagh Bay 10 k on Boxing Day going round the tough course in under 60 mins .
Great to see everyone out and about , well done folks . Arf ! Arf !