Rio Olympian Mick Clohisey – who competed in the marathon in the 2016 Olympic Games – linked up with more than a hundred of his colleagues from Raheny Shamrock Athletic club this morning in the small hours (September 17th) for a marathon relay run in memory of Waterford native, Ronan Walsh, one of our parents here in Belgrove who died earlier this year.
A native of Passage East in County Waterford, Ronan was an active member of Raheny Shamrock AC until he fell ill in 2014. The participants will undertake a 115 mile run from Ronan’s home in Kincora, Clontarf in north Dublin to his mother’s house in Passage, County Waterford.
There are 11 legs with each group running a distance of ten miles. All proceeds will be donated to St Francis Hospice in Raheny and Waterford Hospice.
The relay began at 3am this morning, when Ronan’s children started the race by handing the baton to Mick Clohisey and Kenyan native Freddy Sittuk, who will run the first leg through the streets of Dublin. Aine Duffy & Kate Martin, both of whom teach in Belgrove, will run a leg of the relay.
The route will take the runners through counties Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford towards their ultimate destination. The runners will travel along the R448 through county Kilkenny on Saturday afternoon.
The relay will finish with a five mile run, open to all participants, in Passage East.
If you are interested in donating just log on to Kincora2passage Facebook page HERE