This article is from page 2 of the 2007-06-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
the event had its second outing last Saturday and 1300 signed up with 1100 turning up at the start- ing line in Lees Road sports park.
This was a massive increase on the 750 who signed up to run, walk, jog or race a wheelchair last year.
Cork City Marathon winner Tracey Guilfoyle couldn’t take part but in- stead was the celebrity starter who fired the gun at Lees Road to send the participants out of the sports fa- cility and onto the streets of Ennis.
Once again crowds came out to cheer the participants on as they cov- ered the route either as serious com- petitors or carrying the flag to raise money for their chosen charities.
The two charities which benefited from the registration fees were Clare Haven House and the Clare Youth Service. Gerry Ryan of Galway City Harriers was the winner for the sec- ond time, crossing the finishing line in 30.25 minutes.
First woman home was Veronica Colleran of the Ennis Track Club, who came home in 37.42 minutes. It was a Second victory for Colleran.
The only wheelchair athlete com- peting was Jerry Forde from Blarney
and he came home in 51 minutes.
The deputy mayor of Clare, Coun- cillor Brian Meaney, was joined by the mayors of Shannon and Ennis, Tony McMahon and Joe Reidy. New Clare TD Timmy Dooley was one of the competitors.
One of the largest participating groups was the Clare Crusaders. 200 members turned out. All remembered the crusaders’ founder, Howard Flan- nery, who died in a tragic accident last month.
Competitors aged 8 to 80 signed up for the day out and dozens of charities and community groups will benefit. Mayor Meaney said that the event was “a fine example of what
can be achieved here in Clare’”’. Laura Lehane of