Business advisors Grant Thornton and Athletics Ireland have today announced that not only will the Grant Thornton Corporate 5k Team Challenge be back by popular demand in the Dublin Docklands for the fourth year in a row, but it is also expanding to two new locations in Fingal and Cork City.
New Locations
In 2014 entries hit a record high of close to 1000 teams or 4000 participants. Given the success of the race it will be rolled out to two new locations to allow more of the business community to experience this unique event. The new locations and dates are the National Sports Campus in Fingal on Wednesday 13th of May and The Mall, Cork City on Tuesday 30th of June with the flagship event taking place in the Dublin Docklands on Tuesday 1st of September. The Corporate Challenge is organised by the national governing body Athletics Ireland whose mission is to support and develop the athletes of Ireland of all ages, disciplines and abilities.
Social Running
Aimed at encouraging social running amongst the business community in Dublin and Cork, the event welcomes both seasoned runners as well as beginners. Each run will be a team event and a minimum of four participants will enter with team members’ times combined to determine the winner.
Paul McCann, Managing Partner with Grant Thornton said: “The Corporate Challenge is a great opportunity to build team spirit and to create a sense of healthy competition. This event goes from strength to strength every year with more people participating. We are delighted to partner with Athletics Ireland and to support the work that they do to promote fitness and making a difference to young promising athletes.”
“We recognise the importance of promoting fitness and by supporting this event, we also hope that we are enhancing the awareness of the important role it can play in the workplace. In addition, it’s a great opportunity to raise some funds for charity and this year, 10% of each entry fee to each Challenge will go to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) to support the work it is doing to build stronger, healthier families, who can cope with challenges, solve problems and raise happy, resilient children.”
Catherina McKiernan
Event Ambassador, Olympian and former London Marathon winner Catherina McKiernan commented on last year’s run, “There was a great buzz and atmosphere. While there was a certain competitive edge to it, there was a little more banter than what I would be use to at the start of a race. As an athlete it gave my heart a lift to see so many people out running and keeping themselves fit and healthy”.
Health & Fitness Promotion
John Foley, Chief Executive of Athletics Ireland, said “As an association one of our core strategic objectives is to promote health and fitness in the population as a whole. This event enables us to reach beyond our core membership into the business community by encouraging them to focus on a fitness programme which targets a 5k run; a good starter point for novice runners. We are delighted that we are adding new locations and we can extend this positive impact to over 7600 participants.”
Foley added: “Financial stability is central to delivery of our strategic plans, in addition to funds received from the Irish Sports Council we generate 50% of our own revenue. Grant Thornton’s sponsorship of this event allows for it to be a revenue earner for the association with profits generated channelled into our Junior High Performance Athletics programmes. These programmes provide support and expertise to close to 100 of our emerging young athletes to help them to fulfil their potential.”
Event Details
Entry fee is €100 for a team of four, all events are chipped timed for accuracy and there is a t-shirt and goody bag for all participates.
Participants are encouraged to fundraise for the chosen charity Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) through mycharity.ie.
To ENTER your team now and download Catherina McKiernan’s training programme go to www.grantthorntoncorporatechallenge.ie