Women’s mini marathon in Dublin sees more than 25,000 taking part

• Dublin mini marathon sees more than 25,000 women participating
• Íde Nic Dhomhnaill from West Limerick AC wins in a time of 33.23
• Roads around the start/finish line will be closed until 7pm
• These include Fitzwilliam Square, Merrion Square, Baggot Street
• More than 10,000 did the Cork marathon, half marathon and 10k

More than 25,000 women turned Dublin City purple at the sold-out VHI Women’s Mini Marathon today.

The event drew women from all four corners of Ireland, for what is known as the largest all-female event of its kind in the world.

As the gun went at 12.30pm, entrants left the start line at Fitzwilliam Street Upper to run, jog and walk the 10km route, with many doing it for charitable causes close to their hearts.

Since the inaugural event in 1983, the mini marathon has raised an estimated €250 million for charities across Ireland and is widely regarded as the most important single-day fundraising event in Ireland.

The event was won by Íde Nic Dhomhnaill from West Limerick AC in a time of 33.23. Second to cross the line was Meghan Ryan from Dundrum South Dublin AC with a time of 34.54, followed by Maebh Richardson from Kilkenny City Harriers AC with a time of 35.02.

Sinéad Kane from Le Chéile AC took home first place in the Elite Visually Impaired category with her time of 45.40.

In Cork City, more than 10,000 took part in the Cork marathon, half marathon and 10k earlier this morning.

Agnate Kavenaske from Latvia via Tyrellstown finished in 58 minutes and was delighted as she was hugged by her son Lucas.

“It is my second time and last year I did it in 59 minutes so I wanted to beat that, and I am delighted.”

She said running in the heat was “challenging but the support was amazing. It is a brilliant event and everyone is so lovely. I think that is what makes is so special”.

When asked what her plans were for the rest of the day she didn’t miss a beat. “I am going to fire up the barbecue and have a couple of Aperol Spritzes.”

Elsewhere, Paula Flanagan was ever so slightly hobbling close to the finish line holding one of her runners in her had.

“I got on grand considering I ran the last 4k with just the one runner,” she said as she sat on the steps of a Georgian building and inspected her bare foot.

“I have a fair few blisters now,” she said.

“My foot went numb so I had to take it off. I finished in 1.03 which is up eight minutes on last year and I only had the one runner. I have been doing it for the last few years and it’s just great. It is such a special day for women.”

Patricia Horgan from Collins Ave was running her 42nd mini marathon, one of a handful of women who have competed in every single one of the races stretching back to 1983.

“It is just therapy, my therapy anyway. It is a great stress reliever. You never feel worse after a run,” she said.

“I have had a pacemaker, I had it fitted 16 years ago, but I have kept going. Running has made me to be honest.”

The fastest race she has ever run was around 54 minutes, but Patricia said if she finished in 70 or so minutes this time she would be delighted. – Conor Pope

VHI chief executive Brian Walsh hailed the 24,000 “odd women” who were running the race before correcting himself and replacing the word “odd” with “approximately”.

He said the purpose of the VHI was “longer, stronger and healthier lives” and “we know that we are having an impact on the lives of many, many women, all of those competing [and] their friends, their families, their relations through the women’s mini marathons and through our sponsorship and support,” he said. – Conor Pope

Are/did you take part in the Cork or Dublin events? Were you there supporting participants? Send us your pics to picdesk@irishtimes.com

Cancer research, heart health, homelessness, hospices, the Vincent de Paul, the fight against motor neuron disease and Parkinson’s disease, the Laura Lynn Foundation, Pieta House, Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, Simon and hundreds of personal causes were represented as close to 25,000 women starting streaming past the starting line on Fitzwilliam Place at exactly 12.30pm. Some 20 minutes later the women – most of whom were wearing purple VHI T-shirts – were still starting the race …

And the mini marathon start approaches:

More from Conor Pope:

Katja Mia, presenter of the Six O’Clock Show on Virgin Media, is running the mini marathon for the second year as a VHI ambassador. At an event before the race she told The Irish Times she was “thrilled to be doing it again”.

Although she hoped to improve on her time of just over an hour and 15 minutes from last year she said she would be happy if she could run the race without stopping to walk or have the chats with fellow competitors.

She made it clear the sense of community was infinitely more important that the time it takes to run the race.

“Last year was more a personal goal for me as I’d never competed in a 10k before. But I learned so much about how this event is about bringing women together. It is the biggest women’s event of its kind, and to be able to put my name on it and to support so many other women and help create that community this year is so important to me and it is even better than doing it for personal goals.”

She said she “used to hate running, because my dad did half marathons in his 20s and 30s and he dragged me out running back when I was a bit chubby as a kid. I hated it”.

However, in more recent times she “kind of trained” herself, starting out running for a couple of minutes and slowly building up.

“It’s been great for fitness but also to teach myself that if you put your mind to something you can get it done,” she said.

Some images from the Cork marathon:

From Cork, Barry Roche, our Southern Correspondent, has this report:

And they’re off – over 10,000 runners lined up at the start line of the Cork City Marathon this morning to be waved off by Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy who wished the full marathon runners, half marathon runners and 10km runners all the best in their endeavours.

Temperatures were touching 13 degrees as wheelchair athletes John McCarthy from Dunmanway and Jerry Forde from Blarney led out the field of full marathon runners who were first off from the start line on Patrick Street at 8.15am.

Thousands of competitors milled up Patrick Street and around on to Merchants Quay as they prepared to head out along the route, which will bring them on a circuit of city suburbs from to Tivoli to Mahon to Blackrock to Ballyphehane and Bishopstown and home by Carrigrohane Street.

Cork’s lord mayor was full of admiration for the participants and their supporters as well as the hundreds of volunteers who have helped made the marathon such a success for Cork over the years.

“The Cork City Marathon is annually a great story for Cork – people are in training for this for months on end. I remember launching this year’s edition last November and since then people have been training whether they are doing the full marathon, the half marathon or the 10kms,” Mr McCarthy said.

“It’s something the city looks forward to each year – it’s being going on for decades and while Cork City Council do run it, there is great credit due to the volunteers who make it such a success, be it people from CUH, Order of Malta, the Civil Defence and countless others.

“The one thing that strikes me here this morning is the camaraderie on the street and the sense of togetherness – of all the projects in terms of community in Cork City, this is the one where lots and lots of people come together so great credit is due to everyone including all the volunteers.

Cork City Marathon race director Eamon Hayes was equally upbeat, taking a moment or two after the last of the runners had headed out to survey the scene as he revealed it was the best year for the number of participants.

“It’s fantastic for the city – the city is heaving at the moment – it’s cool enough right now, and it will be like that for most of the race – obviously it will get a bit hotter as day moves on, but if people stay hydrated and we have plenty of water stations, things should be okay.”

Here’s some background on the mini marathon from Conor Pope, on the scene for The Irish Times …

• The first Women’s Mini Marathon in Dublin was run in 1983 and 9,000 people took part – we’d like to say they were all women but in those early days it was not uncommon to see men dressed as women taking part, a practice which has largely faded to memory.
• While the mini-marathon is both a race and a fun run it is also a massive charitable drive and since the first year, more than a quarter of a billion euro has been raised for charities all over Ireland and the world. Around 60 per cent of those taking part collect money for a charity.
• One of the nice things about the mini marathon as opposed to more traditional road races is there is absolutely no pressure on those taking part to do well or run in a certain time. All that is expected of those taking part is that they are fit enough to walk, jog or run the 10k. And if women want to do that in full running gear or while eating an ice-cream cone that is entirely their prerogative. And every finisher is a winner and receives a commemorative medal to mark their achievement.
• This year will see the introduction of an expert pace team who will be pacing 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 minute finish times to help participants maintain pace and achieve their goal time.
• Around 25 per cent of those taking part are classified as elite runners while joggers make up 49 per cent and walkers 26 per cent.
• The record for the fasted finishing time is held by Sonia O’Sullivan, at a time of 31:28.
• The majority of women participating are between 25-45 years, the youngest participants are 14 and the oldest woman taking part this year is 93.
• There are approximately 15 women who have participated in the Women’s Mini Marathon every single year since it started.
• It takes 900 volunteers to keep the marathon on course and the theme of the 2024 VHI Women’s Mini Marathon is heart to heart (no, not the TV programme.
• The organisers say the theme has been chosen because of the “heart it takes to say ‘yes’ to registering for the world’s biggest women’s event; the heart it takes to keep going all the way from training to the finish line; The hundreds of charities that are close to participants’ hearts, for which thousands are raised every year. But mostly it’s about the heart-to-hearts that are shared along the way. Conversations, moments, highs and lows. Things that may only be revealed while walking, jogging, running, falling, getting back up, and pushing through together.”
• The first women’s mini marathon in Dublin was run in 1983, and 9,000 people took part – we’d like to say they were all women, but in those early days it was not uncommon to see men dressed as women taking part, a practice that has largely faded to memory.
• While the mini-marathon is both a race and a fun run, it is also a massive charitable drive and since the first year, more than a quarter of a billion euro has been raised for charities all over Ireland and the world. Around 60 per cent of those taking part collect money for a charity.
• One of the nice things about the mini marathon as opposed to more traditional road races is there is absolutely no pressure on those taking part to do well or run in a certain time. All that is expected of those taking part is that they are fit enough to walk, jog or run the 10k. And if women want to do that in full running gear or while eating an ice-cream cone that is entirely their prerogative. And every finisher is a winner and receives a commemorative medal to mark their achievement.
• This year will see the introduction of an expert pace team that will be pacing 40-, 45-, 50-, 55- and 60-minute finish times to help participants maintain pace and achieve their goal time.
• Around 25 per cent of those taking part are classified as elite runners, while joggers make up 49 per cent and walkers 26 per cent.
• The record for the fastest finishing time is held by Sonia O’Sullivan, at a time of 31:28.
• The majority of women participating are between 25 and 45 years, the youngest participants are 14 and the oldest woman taking part this year is 93.
• There are some 15 women who have participated in the women’s mini marathon every single year since it started.
• It takes 900 volunteers to keep the marathon on course and the theme of the 2024 VHI Women’s Mini Marathon is heart to heart (no, not the TV programme).
• The organisers say the theme has been chosen because of the “heart it takes to say ‘yes’ to registering for the world’s biggest women’s event; the heart it takes to keep going all the way from training to the finish line; the hundreds of charities that are close to participants’ hearts, for which thousands are raised every year. But mostly it’s about the heart-to-hearts that are shared along the way. Conversations, moments, highs and lows. Things that may only be revealed while walking, jogging, running, falling, getting back up, and pushing through together.”