Irish Life Health Mile Challenge finds the fastest male and female 4x1 mile relay teams in Ireland

Irish Life Health and Athletics Ireland teamed up to bring a new challenge to the 650,000 regular and new runners in Ireland with the Irish Life Health Mile Challenge which set out to see which county and club is the fittest and most active. The weeklong challenge and celebration of athletics started on Monday 17th August and saw thousands of runners get involved by logging their mile. The Mile Challenge finished on Sunday 23rd August as Ireland’s top athletes took to the track to compete for national titles at the Irish Life Health Track and Field Championships. The initiative was part of Irish Life Health’s on-going commitment to athletics, a sport that delivers on health, wellness, and lifelong activity.

Hamish Adams, CEO of Athletics Ireland said: “The Irish Life Health Mile Challenge has been a fantastic success and something that has really engaged our clubs and the running community in Ireland as a whole. Some friendly county rivalry always ignites something within people, and it was fantastic to see every county in Ireland represented in this event. We thank Irish Life health for once again showing their tremendous support in backing athletics from grass roots level right up to our elite athletes who were competing at our National Championships last weekend”.

The Irish Life Health Mile Challenge saw families and runners of all abilities get involved in the virtual event, with many marking the occasion with a limited-edition Irish Life Health Mile Challenge t-shirt and medal. There was also prize bursary’s worth €3,000 on offer which saw over 140 athletics clubs compete to find out who would take the title of fastest 4x1 mile relay, for both male and female. Dublin City Harriers secured the fastest relay time for women, while Togher AC claimed the men’s title. Each club received a €500 bursary for claiming the fastest respective time.

Athletics Clubs also had an additional chance to win a prize thanks to Irish Life’s personalised health and wellbeing app, MyLife.  An open draw took place where clubs had a chance to win one of four €500 bursaries subject to meeting the entry criteria.

The winning clubs were:

• Ulster: Letterkenny AC €500 Bursary (Donegal)
• Leinster: Polish Runners Club Ireland €500 Bursary (Dublin)
• Munster: Mallow  AC €500 Bursary (Cork)
• Connaught: Mayo AC €500 Bursary (Mayo)

Liz Rowen, Head of Marketing, Irish Life Health said: “We know how important athletics clubs are to their local communities, and that this has been an incredibly challenging time for everyone. Whilst there have been no mass participation events available for runners across the country, it has been great to see that the competitive spirit continues with so many people taking part in the Irish Life Health Mile Challenge. During national and local restrictions, the running community have once again shown a huge appetite to stay active and we’d encourage everyone to continue to get their daily and weekly activity in to help improve their overall health and wellbeing.” She added “A huge thank you to everyone who participated, and congratulations to all of our winners”.

MyLife, a health and wellbeing app which rewards people for embracing a healthier lifestyle is also available to download for free by clicking here.