The Mourne Mountain Marathon team takes a responsible approach towards the safety and well being of young people taking part in the event. Juniors (16-17yrs old on day 1 of the event) may enter the C, D or Score class of the event provided they are partnered by a person over 21yrs old (Senior partner) who is their parent or guardian. These teams will be referred to as Parent-Junior (PJ).
All such entries are vetted before being accepted against criteria as follows:

• The Senior partner must have successfully completed at least 2 previous mountain marathon courses of similar distance and climb and have recent navigational and mountain skills experience OR have significant recent mountain skills experience.*
• The Junior must have good navigational and mountain skills experience.*

It is important to understand that an accident can happen to anyone and in the event that the Senior partner is injured or loses consciousness, the Junior partner will have to take steps to keep both of them safe.

It is not unusual for teams to fail to make the overnight camp on the first day if conditions are bad or they lose time through navigational mistakes. Competitors are expected to be able to cope with these situations and to make the right decisions for their own safety. Therefore, the MMM will not call out rescue services unless an accident is reported. However, overdue teams should report their status to the MMM via mobile phone, another team or a Marshall if it is possible and safe to do so.

• Retiring teams MUST report to the MMM when they are safely off the mountain.
• As an additional safety feature, PJ teams are required to carry a mobile phone.
• PJ teams will be vetted for experience before their entry is accepted.
• All PJ teams will be gear checked.

*Examples of the sorts of skills and experience we are looking for are:

For seniors, mountain skills experience will range from regular hill walking and proficiency with map and compass navigation in bad conditions up to winter and alpine mountaineering experience for those who have not done any mountain marathons. Someone who did a couple of MMs ten years ago and has barely been in the hills since would not be suitable.

For juniors, navigational and mountain skills should be experience such as regular orienteering and hill walking, Duke of Edinburgh awards, or higher degrees of mountaineering with youth groups including experience in poor conditions, map and compass navigation etc.

Competitors are responsible for ensuring they are fit and experienced enough for an event of this nature and must take responsibility for their own safety and actions throughout. Acceptance of any entry to the event should not be taken as an assessment of your fitness to do it on the day.