Full Speed Ahead

The last few months have been very busy and productive here at Athletics Ireland, with everyone putting their shoulders to a wheel moving in the right direction.

The Daily Mile nationwide promotion, which Athletics Ireland is spearheading in association with the Local Sports Partnerships, has already proved a great success, with close to 400 Primary Schools already signed up and added to the global map. Feedback from Teachers, Parents and Children has been very positive, and the progress already made with this promotion has been rapid, especially when you realise that it was only back in April that Athletics Ireland launched The Daily Mile Pilot.

There was some great racing too, by our top marathoners at the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon, where Mick Clohisey and Lizzie Lee proved popular winners of the men’s and women’s national titles. It’s great to see the National Championship incorporated into the big Dublin event and Mick Clohisey and Lizzie Lee were very popular with the press on Marathon Sunday.

The annual Remembrance Run 5K in the Phoenix Park was another great example of teamwork at Athletics Ireland. The team, led by Sliabh Wells, delivered another brilliant event and the sun shone brightly on all participants on Sunday, November 11th. It was a very special day in The Phoenix Park and it was good to see Athletics Ireland CEO Hamish Adams taking part in the event which had close to 5,000 participants. Ray D’Arcy gave the event a ringing endorsement on his RTE Radio Show on the Monday after the event and the feedback from participants has been very encouraging.

The SPAR Airport Run in Cork was another great success and another example of a fine team effort. We have the cross-country season to look forward to now and there was great news for Athletics Ireland with the announcement that AAI will host the 2020 European Cross-Country Championships in Dublin.

We are on a roll, so let’s keep the momentum going!