(By Mairead Lonergan via eagleac.net)
At this time of year we would normally be making the final preparations for our annual club race – The Tommy Ryan Memorial 5 Miler in Carrigaline. Of course, this year, the event will be unable to proceed in the traditional way.
As a club, we would still like to do something to honour this event and to help out the 2 local Carrigaline charities who normally benefit from the race – Carrigaline Meals on Wheels and Carrigaline Foróíge.
As a result, we are going to hold a virtual version of the race this year. 100% of all monies raised will go to the two charities. All runners are invited to take part! Here’s how it will work:
From February 11th to February 21st we are inviting runners to take part by completing a 5 mile run or walk and by then donating to our GoFundMe page which can be found at: https://gofund.me/0a48f24d (We would suggest a minimum entry fee of €5 but all monies received would be greatly appreciated).
Once you have completed your run and have made your donation we would ask entrants to enter their details – race time etc to: https://forms.gle/U7DVKEtW87BrreUq9.
A virtual leaderboard will then be compiled and regularly updated using entries received. We will have 2 John Buckley Sports vouchers up for grabs for the fastest female and fastest male times entered! This is just a bit of an extra incentive to add a bit of a competitive element to the proceedings! – any course, route etc will be accepted so pick a nice flat one for yourself!
There will also be a number of other vouchers (One4All, LIDL etc.) up for grabs. All entrants who have donated to the GoFundMe page will be in with a chance of winning one of these vouchers. We will hold a raffle once all entries have been submitted.
If anyone would like to enter but not submit their race times etc., that is absolutely fine – just send us an email with your name to eagleac5mile@gmail.com and we will enter you into the draw. Families, walkers, cyclists etc all very welcome to enter also! If you have any photos from your run we would love to see them too – just send them to either our club Facebook page, to Ruairi, Tracy, Karen or Mairead, or email them to eagleac5mile@gmail.com. We will share these on our Facebook page.
Of course, it goes without saying that all current HSE guidelines should be strictly adhered to when completing your 5 mile run. Your route should be within a 5km radius of your home and entrants should either run solo, with their household members or with just one other person from another household within their 5k zone. Please be very aware of those around you at all times and keep at least a 2 metre distance away from others. If possible, it might be an idea to run on quieter routes or at quieter times of the day.
We hope to see as many people as possible take part in next weekend’s events. It’s a win win! – You’ll be getting exercise, donating to charity and giving yourself a chance of winning a prize, all at the same time!!