Rain and wind fails to deter night runners
DESPITE the wind and at times lashing rain, the Credit Union 5k Night Run was a great success with a late train along the Quays providing only a minor hitch in a near flawless night of fund raising.
Among the runners, and taking part in his first such event was Noel Butler, from Cycle Against Suicide, who said he was running in memory of the late Barry Ennis.
More than 1,300 people had registered for the run, with 1,170 turning up for it last Thursday night, some no doubt put off by Storm Doris which was lashing the coast further north, although the worst of the weather lifted for the race.
The winner was Niall Sheil, from Wexford, with a time of 14.05, Ryan Mann, from Wexford, was second with a time of 15.24 and Thomas Cousins, from Kilmore, came close behind at 15.30,2.
But there was more to the Night Run than fast times, with the overall objective of getting people together to raise funds for Wexford Marinewatch and the Wexford branch of the Irish Kidney Association.
Organiser Nicola Gregg said she hadn’t yet worked out how much had been raised for the two charities, but she expected it to be more than €10,000.
Nicola said she had a lot of calls from people asking the run was going to be called off in view of the weather, but Wexford people are made of sterner stuff and that was never an option.
The only hitch was when the train, which had been supposed to be on the Quays at 7.10 p.m., arrived 40 minuntes late, which meant that the guards and race stewards had to flag it to a halt to allow a group of runners to cross the tracks.
‘ The driver knew the race was on, so it wasn’t a problem and after a short time a group of 10 to 12 people came along and the train moved off,’ said Nicola.
The race, officially over 5km, attracted runners and walkers from almost every sector of the community, ranging from youngsters from Kennedy Park school, teenagers from Selskar College and the Loreto, up to people in their 70s and 80s and some transplant survivors too.’
Rathnure Pantomime Society provided some clowns on the night and they gave some welcome support to those taking part.
‘An awful lot of people helped on the night as stewards in the wind and rain and both charities, Marinewatch and the Irish Kidney Association lent their support,’ said Nicola.
‘It doesn’t get any easier the second time around.’
Noel Butler said as recently as two weeks ago he had not run anywhere and had no plan to do any running soon. In the blink of an eye that changed.
‘I knew that the Wexford Credit Union Night Run 5km was happening soon and that one of the beneficiaries was to be Wexford MarineWatch, but following the tragic death of Barry Ennis, who I knew had his own plans for running this year I decided to do my first run tonight and to do it in memory of Barry.
‘I had no idea what to expect of myself or from the event itself. The evening started wet and very windy but that was forgotten when the huge crowd set off from the Quay and into the teeth of the wind.
‘ The irony of the turning point being at Aiseiri was not lost on me, a place where so many people go to try to turn their lives around,’ he said in a posting on social media.
‘I was delighted I signed up to do the run, was nervous and anxious at the start but good company put those feelings behind me. Congratulations to the organisers and everyone who assisted in anyway.
Wexford and the people of Wexford are second to none.’
Nicola said a special thank you to the sponsors, Wexford Credit Union, The Natural Health Store, Roche Freight, SK Fitness, Wrightway Insurance, PJ Firman, Renault Menapia, Haven Pharmacy. Ryans bread sponsored the bread for the sandwiches and Scallans Food Service looked after the catering.