This article is from page 3 of the 2006-06-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
AN estimated €100,000 was raised for charities, both local and national, following the Clare 10K race on Saturday.
While over €7,500 was raised for the sponsored charities, Clare Haven Services, Cahercalla Hospice and the Samaritans, from the registration fee alone, a further €90,000 was raised by participants for their own designated charities.
Eileen Murphy of Clare Haven Services, one of the Clare 10k organisers, was delighted with the success of the event. She said that “the original idea was to organise a large local event in which to pool resources and bring all the charities together, but this exceeded all my expectations.”
She went on to thank everyone involved, from those who were there at the beginning to everyone who gave 100 per cent on the day, including the gardaí and marshalls who were on hand to help along the route, and the volunteers and physiotherapists, who were at the Lees Road complex to assist the runners as they crossed the finish line. She said she had received great feedback.
“Many people commented on the chosen route. We tried to make it a mix of country and urban and the runners seemed very happy with it,” she said.
Locals and businesses came out in force to support the event, with people standing along the route to cheer on and motivate the runners. While some local businesses sent messages of support, others donated spot prizes. Local bands and musical societies were positioned along the route, to entertain the spectators and motivate the runners.
James Sexton from the Clare branch of Athletics Ireland said that “this was a very successful event from an athletics point of view. This is the first big sporting event in Clare and it attracted some very good athletes including both the men’s and women’s senior winners, Gerry Ryan from Galway City Harriers and Veronica Colleran from Ennis.”
A total of 737 registered runners, joggers and walkers took part, while there was a further 150 estimated unregistered runners, who came along on the day.
“This was a great number for an inaugural race,” said Eileen, “but let’s hope we have double, or even treble the numbers next year.”
Along with the Clare 10K sponsored charities, some of the 40 charities who benefited from the event were Clare Animal Welfare, ICA, Breast Cancer and the East Clare Chernobyl Project.