Over 600 runners expected at night run

Damian McCarney

Hundreds of runners and walkers are expected to take to the streets of Cavan Town this Friday night for the second annual Cavan Night Run.
The event follows last year’s hugely successful run in which almost 600 people enjoyed the festive atmosphere whilst raising much needed funds for great causes locally. As word spreads of how enjoyable the 2015 run was, organisers hope to surpass the number participating this Friday. Again the event will be timed, and they have enlisted the expertise of the coretiming.com team, and of course the many voluntary stewards. The 5km run is organised by the amateur athletes and casual runners of Killygarry Running Club. They attend Peter Walsh’s twice weekly training sessions at Killygarry GAA football grounds and decided to host an annual charity event to help generate funds for worthy causes.
Last year they raised cash for Cavan Palliative Home Care and St Vincent de Paul, and this year the charities to benefit are the Alzheimers Society, Teach Oscailt counselling services and Helping Orphans Worldwide (HOW).
Amongst the driving forces behind the run is Sandra McCormack, who would be well known from her work in Cavan Credit Union.
“All the money we raised is staying local, it’s all for the community,” Sandra assures the Celt. “Even the money for Helping Orphans Worldwide (HOW), that will go to help Frances Galligan in travelling out every year to Vietnam to help orphans.” Just because it’s organised by runners doesn’t mean it is only for speedsters. People of all abilities are welcome to complete short course around the almost entirely flat streets of Cavan Town.
“It’s 5k, you can run, walk, crawl, hop - you can do what you like,” enthuses Sandra. “You’ll be back within the hour and having a pint at the bar. It’s really about getting people out for worthy causes.”