MEET OUR THREE LEADERS AS THEY BEGIN THEIR JOURNEY
DICK WALSH (10KM)
Running. What am I doing? I have been asking myself this for the past few weeks ever since I agreed with Eoin to be a leader for 2018.
Dick Walsh is my name and I’m a 39-year-old father of four wonderful children, Chloe, Dylan, Kayla & Nuria, a husband to my beautiful wife Montse and hotelier in Lyrath Estate in Kilkenny.
I have always enjoyed sports throughout my younger years but they have been mainly team sports or sports with a direct competitive challenge such as tennis or squash.
My main passion was rugby and I loved everything about it, from the hard hits on the pitch to the social interaction in the bar.
I still manage to get a run out once a year at the Casey Cup between Wexford Wanderers and Greystones, which is a fantastic event, run by the Ryan family in memory of Casey Ryan.
But with such a varied working schedule I have always found it hard to keep involved in team sports and the odd game of tennis or squash is not enough to keep me fit and active.
Over the coming weeks I plan on doing my training around Johnstown Castle and also fit in the odd beach run to mix it up a bit. Eoin gave us an excellent motivational tutorial and has us on a steady training programme. It’s tough but strangely I’m really enjoying it.
CORMAC MCMANUS (10KM)
My name is Cormac Mc Manus I am married with four children living in Courtown. Last year before my 45th birthday I joined a local gym as my fitness level was poor and I was slightly over weight.
I really enjoyed gym sessions but I also needed something else to improve my overall fitness level as I could see and feel the huge benefits of exercise. I started running for 1k and 2k which soon increased to 3 and 4k runs. I now attend my local park run most Saturdays while still hitting the gym twice a week.
Although I am running the 5k Park Run most weeks I have never competed or ran a 10k, this is why I have chosen to be a leader for the 10k Wexford run in April to give me a new challenge.
I would love to run a half marathon and always admired anybody who has finished a full marathon so I see the 10k as the next step towards this goal. If I didn’t sign up to the Wexford 10k or write this piece I probably would have backed out like I have before so I’m looking forward to the longer runs over the next few weeks and finishing my first 10k on April 29.
ANASTASIA CASH (HALF MARATHON)
Previous to last year I wouldn’t have called myself fit, I went for the odd walk and had been inside the gym on occasion but nothing particularly regular or formal.
Then came a surprise Christmas present, my darling boyfriend signed me up for the Pettitt’s SuperValu Wexford 10km run (romantic, I know!).
Before then, I had run one 5k; a charity run in the dark in Kilkenny, and a run-a-muck some years previously. So during my training, I thought about my revenge in order to get me through the miles.
My boyfriend is (or was) terrified of deep water so I decided to sign him up for the Ballyhack to Passage swim. Since then we’ve continued to challenge each other from one thing to another. Now he’s training for a half ironman so I have some catching up to do!
I have a busy life (like everyone else) so actually committing to a training plan is daunting, but hopefully, with this plan, I will be well on my way to completing my first half marathon.
Last year I found the atmosphere around the 10km to be very uplifting, and overall an extremely enjoyable experience, thanks to the huge encouragement of the supporters along the route.
Hopefully, I will be able to say the same thing once I run 13.1 miles on April 29.