Record numbers of participants lined out in spring sunshine for Schools Race Day in aid of Focus Ireland. In close partnership with Celtic DCH Athletic Club and Dublin City Council, this years event saw over 1000 school children, teachers and parents turn out for a fine day of racing in the glorious sunshine!
The race day, which took place on March 4th in John Paul Park in Cabra, got underway at 11.30am. The Sports Accessories Ireland Race 1 started off the programme, through to Race 5 which was sponsored by Dualway Coaches. Following the primary schools programme was the inaugural 1st Year Cross-Country Relay, the first of its kind in Ireland, in which 50 teams competed for the title with each team member completing a 500m relay leg.
This year, the Parkside team spearheaded by Mary McKenna (Celtic DCH), Maz O’Reilly (Dublin City Council Sports Development Officer and Irish Women’s Rugby team), and Catherine McManus (DCU), teamed up with charity partner Focus Ireland.
Working together to tackle homelessness, the team’s objective is to raise €4,000 for Focus Ireland. It only takes €2 to provide a hot meal for homeless person, which was the take home message for the children from the day. ‘We want to provide as many meals as possible – that’s our overall goal,’ according to Catherine McManus of the DCU Events team. ‘For those who couldn’t make it on the day, we have set up a text line to make your €2 donation – text MEAL to 50300 – it is that easy!’. Media spokeswoman for the event Sinead Kelly (DCU) said ‘We want to spread the word, create awareness of our campaign and encourage people to text with their donation. So far we have had an amazing response online. It is really great to see so many people getting behind such a worthy cause’.
Mary McKenna of Celtic DCH remarked on the record breaking turnout “It is really fantastic to see so many schools supporting young people’s athletics.We were delighted to have so many schools from all over Dublin involved in Parkside today. A huge thanks must go out to all our volunteers, the transition year group from St Dominics Cabra, to Dublin City Council Sports Development officer Maz Reilly and of course all the Parkside Sports Centre staff. The event could not have happened without their hard work and support”.
The racing did not disappoint with 31 schools travelling from all over Dublin. The big winners on the day were St. Colmcilles in the Boys and Loreto Foxrock in the Girls 1st Year Relay events, with Mary Help of Christians on the Navan Road and St. Brigids Castleknock sweeping up many of the individual titles. The best overall school award was given to St.John Boscos from the Navan Road who had the highest number of athletes in the top 20 of each race.
A massive thanks must go to each the individual race sponsors – Dualway Coaches, John’s DIY, Sampson Physio, Dunnes Stores, and Sports Accessories Ireland, who contributed so generously to the event. Nudiefoods provided free fruit and Glenisk provided free yoghurt for all the children present. Having secured local sponsors and prize donations, the DCU team hosted a raffle on the day with some fantastic prizes for all involved such as a Cadburys Hamper, Premium Level Dublin match tickets and Runways sports shop vouchers to name but a few. A full list of contributors can be found here.
All proceeds from this fantastic event will be donated to Focus Ireland in helping to support those who are homeless and those at risk of losing their home in Ireland. You can continue to donate to the Parkside campaign online here.
Photos from the day can be found on our Facebook page!
Celtic DCH 