'Every step counts' as Louisburgh battles Westport for Connacht glory

“It's genuinely the conversation, if you go into the chemist now, 'Are we going to hold it?'”, Sharon McNamara, the healthy clubs officer for Louisburgh GAA tells The Mayo News.

With days left, Louisburgh’s 200-strong walking army shows no signs of letting up.

As Wednesday’s finish lines approaches, they are holding on tight to top spot of the Connaught Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs Steps Challenge 2026, ahead of the 75 other Connacht clubs seeking glory.

And most importantly, ahead of Westport, who are currently in second place on the leader board.

Unlike many competing clubs, Louisburgh has no athletics club and no marathon running group—just a determined community that's discovered they quite enjoy beating Westport.

"We are most proud of how we're doing as, unlike a lot of competing clubs, we have no athletics club and no marathon running group, just a determined community," says Sharon McNamara. But make no mistake that determination and community buy in has been significantly fuelled by some good-natured local rivalry.

Beating Westport
While the challenge promotes physical and mental health through wracking up walked kilometres, there's an elephant in the room—or rather, the town next door on the leader board. Westport is currently in hot pursuit, and Louisburgh is loving every minute of the competition.

McNamara doesn't even try to hide it: "If Westport weren't as close to us, would we be as determined?" she asks with a laugh. The friendly rivalry is particularly entertaining in her household—she's originally from Westport, and both her mother and sister are walking for the Westport team. "I should be fighting Westport's corner, but it's just a bit of craic because my sister's involved."

Everybody has a place

The challenge has brought together people of all ages and fitness levels, united by a common goal: keeping Westport in second place.

"Absolutely everybody—there's a lot of men that aren't involved in the club taking part, there's a lot of women not involved in the club taking part," McNamara explains.

The structure is straightforward. McNamara organises group walks twice weekly, but as she notes, "the backbone of it is done by people at home. We've great numbers for the walks, but people are doing it all in their own time."

The Saturday morning walks have become legendary. "We have probably over 25 some Saturday mornings now since we started this, and we normally do 3k loop, 4k loop, or 5k loop, but our loops now are kind of 5k, 7k or 9k," says McNamara. Participants have naturally progressed to longer distances—perhaps the sight of Westport on the leader board is better motivation than any fitness app.

“The walking group is brilliant. Because, genuinely, people would say it every Saturday morning, 'I never met this person before. I never saw that person before.' And these people are now really close,” Sharon says.

“Some people speed off down the road, and some will take their time and do it at their own pace.

“It's not one size fits all, everybody has a place there. It doesn't have to be a speed walk, or you don't have to keep up with the pace or anything like that. It's just very open to everybody, very inclusive.”

The Final Push
The rally cries on Facebook show the growing excitement and determination as Wednesday's finish line approaches.

"Ladies & Gents please dig deep this weekend and help us cross the finish line in 1st place on Wednesday, the final day of this Challenge," urged one recent post, thanking participants for their "unbelievable work." The subtext? Don't let Westport win.

Another rallied the troops: "Louisburgh GAA Healthy Club walk 10am Saturday morning, let's line the Carrowmore Road with walkers, regardless the weather." Rain, wind, sleet—none of it matters when there's a rivalry to settle.

"Unbelievable work Louisburgh, we have really widened the gap in week 3, we have to keep this going," celebrated another post. You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief that Westport isn't gaining ground.

The posts have landed well and people can see the lighter side of things as shown by Sharon's friend Paula Ring, a member of Westport GAA, who has been replying to the posts with laughing faces in response to the online rally cries.

McNamara jokes that she's annoying people to get out to walk and she'll be blocked by the end of it.

Pride on the Line
What drives this collective effort? McNamara puts it simply: "I think everybody is just very driven by the fact that we are leading." And while she's diplomatic enough to add that it's not about material rewards—"At the end of the day, we don't win anything to win it. There's no first prize for winners"—let's be honest: beating Westport is prize enough."

The hashtags tell the whole story: #prideofparish #healthyclubs #everystepcounts. That parish pride? It's significantly enhanced by the prospect of having bragging rights over Westport.

The Finish Line Awaits
With 76 clubs competing across Connaught and Wednesday's deadline looming, Louisburgh is in the home stretch. The challenge kicked off on January 7, 2026, with any club hitting 4,000km by February 11 entering a draw to win a share of €30,000 in funding.

With the appetite for exercise locally boosted by the challenge, Sharon will soon be starting circuit training classes in Lecanvey and Louisburgh.

But honestly? For Louisburgh, the real victory is finishing ahead of Westport.

As the final days tick down, one thing is certain: Louisburgh has already won something special—a healthier, more connected community that's discovered the joy of friendly competition. And if they happen to beat their neighbours in the process? Well, that's just the cherry on top.

Every step counts. Especially when Westport is watching.