Offaly general election candidates among 100 people at Tullamore parkrun

TWO general election candidates were among about a hundred people who turned out for the 5km parkrun which resumed on the bank of the Grand Canal in Tullamore on Saturday morning.

Minister of State Pippa Hackett, the Green Party candidate from Geashill, and Cllr Tony McCormack, the Tullamore man who is running for Fianna Fail, had intervened following the temporary suspension of the weekly event recently.

The resumption of the parkrun coincided with the third anniversary of its establishment. Event organiser Trish Finn said there appeared to have been a misunderstanding which resulted in Parkrun being told in late September they had to cancel the Grand Canal Way run and walk.

The organisers then looked into how they could get the event up and running again.

“We just didn't know where to start. We went to Pippa Hackett and Tony McCormack and they worked at it and helped us,” said Ms Finn.

“Waterways have been very helpful as well.”

The return of the run from suspension and a special celebration for its third birthday – with a commemorative cake for participants sponsored by local bakers Flynn's – resulted in double the normal number coming along.

There were regular parkrunners from Athlone and Mountlucas, plus a visitor from Canada, another from Mountbellew, Co Galway and a couple more from Raheny, Dublin..

WATCH:

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/video/general-election/1651931/watch-offaly-green-party-candidate-says-she-has-vision-no-one-else-running-in-county-has.html

“When our parkrun wasn't running we went [to Athlone and Mountlucas] to do our parkrun so we're delighted to get people back,” said Ms Finn.

“It's just to get people moving, it's all part of healthy Ireland, getting people out walking in a safe environment, not just for their physical health but for their mental health as well.”

Parkrun is an international organisation and once participants register online their runs and walks are recorded whenever and wherever they take place.

The parkrun in the Bord na Mona wind farm at Mountlucas was Offaly's first and it was then followed by Tullamore which begins close to the Fiona Pender memorial monument and follows a double loop on the northern bank of the canal.

Stewards supervise those taking part and on Saturday morning there were a number of pacers helping runners who wished to achieve certain times.

While the competitive element is attractive to some, others use it as an opportunity to complete a walk. Children are encourage to join and dogs are permitted on leads.

WATCH:

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/video/general-election/1651947/watch-strong-representative-needed-in-tullamore-and-offaly-says-fianna-fail-candidate.html

Two youngsters from Spain who are staying with host families in Tullamore as part of a student exchange programme took part.

Naia from Bilbao and Andrea from Valencia befriended each other since arriving in Tullamore. Naia explained why she came along for the run: “I wanted to keep healthy and do a little bit of sport and run because it's a long time since I did it.”

Andrea said she glad to go to the run with Naia and explained how she chose Ireland: “I wanted to do an exchange and I heard Ireland was good so I came here. I really like it here.”