AND THEY'RE OFF Competitors at the start of the half-marathon in Achill last weekend. Pic: Sportsfile
Grey skies fail to dampen spirits at Achill marathon
Anton McNulty
WITH grey threatening skies and blustery conditions, it looked like the weather would ruin last Saturday’s Achill half-marathon, but thankfully the rain stayed away long enough for the course record to be smashed by nearly eight minutes.
This was the third year of the Achill half-marathon and with over 1,100 participants, organisers said it was the most successful and has safeguarded the future of the event. Runners of all grades – including Irish international rugby star, Denis Leamy – came from across Ireland and beyond and descended on the Keel Sandybanks for the race.
Despite the blustery conditions, a tailwind on the homeward stretch gave the athletes an extra advantage and resulted in the race winner, Owen Gahan from the St Senan’s Athletic Club in Kilkenny, coming home in a time of one hour, 12 minutes and 52 seconds, easily breaking the course record. Last year’s winner, Mayo’s John Byrne, came second in a time of one hour, 16 minutes and 58 seconds, beating his own record of one hour, 20 minutes and 18 seconds set at last year’s race.
The half-marathon was organised to raise money for the charity, Silent Masses, and its founder and race organiser, James Cleary, told The Mayo News that the feedback on the event was amazing and it was ‘onwards and upwards’ for the future of the Achill half-marathon. There were 137 local volunteers working on the day and James praised all the volunteers along with Achill Tourism and Comhlacht Forbartha Áitiúil Acla for helping to organise the race.
“The feedback was amazing and it was great to hear people congratulating us on how the race went. We make sure we look after our runners, they are our customers and we ensure their needs are catered for and they have ample water and food. It is onwards and upwards for the marathon and it is a major event and is getting stronger every year. We will increase the numbers for next year but we will be in control of the numbers entering and we will ensure it is a safe crowd we can cater for,” he said.
The half-marathon has been a huge success for tourism on the island with the majority of accommodation booked up for the weekend. Ms Helen Applegarth of Achill Tourism said Achill was buzzing over the weekend and explained that the presence of the tented village and the mobile cinema added to the atmosphere of the event.
She told The Mayo News that outdoor tourism and events like the half-marathon were the way forward in attracting visitors to the island and they were looking forward to building on their success.
“We would [like to] have people coming in for a longer period of time and this would be part of our strategy to market nature and outdoor tourism. We will soon have our cycle routes and maybe in the future we could have a round Achill cycle on the same basis as the marathon,” she said.
