Ballymoney’s Jason Wilson, who runs for Pegasus AC has just snatched another Northern Ireland call up, following on from last year. He will again be competing in the prestigious “Knockdhu International Mountain Race” held at Cairncastle, Larne on 29 th April. The race organisers are Larne AC. This time however, he comes in as NI 1 st pick in the Under 20 category, where he will compete against Welsh, Scottish and other Northern Irish team mates, over a gruelling 4000m course, consisting of 900 feet of climbing.

It is just reward for the huge amount of effort the 17 year old has put in over a period of 4 months, with training reaching 5-6 times a week. As Jason comments, “I have had no injuries during my training sessions, so I’ve been able to push on harder and harder, meaning I could progress to NI standard.”

In an effort to get picked for the squad, a number of specified selection races must be completed down in the Mournes, on some of the highest in Northern Ireland. The first of 4 races started on 1 st April, and run each week right through until Thursday 20 th April. Jason picked up three 2 nd places and a credible 1 st at the last round in Rostrevor. Other Pegasus AC runners such as Michael Henry and Shirley Park have raced in a number of the races, with Michael coming home 27 th overall and 3 rd Vet 45 in one of the races, just a minute behind Jason. Shirley is also competed well, coming home 13 th Lady out of a strong 21 field.

Jason has no major injuries and is geared up to do his country proud, and he will report back next week to tell how he got on.