FREE MENTAL HEALTH TALK IN THE GRAND HOTEL Marathon event a huge success
DR Melanie Ryberg, a Clinical Psychologist with the HSE, will provide a free talk taking place at 8 p.m. in the Grand Hotel on Wednesday, July 11.
The talk has been arranged by Wicklow Mental Health Association and Dr Ryberg will speak about many aspects of mental health, such as hoe to manage stress, anxiety and low moods.
Dr Ryberg works within the mental health services in Wicklow to provide assessment and intervention to adults with mental health difficulties. She obtained her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from University College Dublin in 2012 and has over ten years experience of working within the Irish health service.
This talk will explore what research tells us about looking after, responding to, and nurturing our mental health. Drawing on knowledge from Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Compassion-Focused Therapy, Positive Psychology and Mindfulness. Dr Ryberg will offer practical suggestions that can help. THE East of Ireland (EOI) Marathon series recently paid its first visit to Avondale House and Forest Park, a course which received rave reviews from the athletes.
EOI, in association with Dublin Bay Running Club, holds monthly races from five miles to the full marathon distance.
Over 135 runners participated and distances were five, ten, 15 and 20 miles and, of course, the marathon. EOI was invited by the Wicklow Hospice running group to use Avondale for one of their events. Sinéad, Bill, Vincent and Ciarán, who are the organisers of running events such as the Wicklow Hospice Four-Day Festival of Running and the Fionnuala MacCormack Kilomarathon and 10K, liaised closely with EOI’s Gary Reinhardt, Frank MacDermot and Ger Copeland to make sure that everything was in order on the day.
Ably assisted by PJ, John and Vincent Jnr, the course was well marked and stewarded. This was a slightly amended course and the consensus was that it was an easier route to negotiate with fewer opportunities to take a wrong turn.
On the day, there were many personal goals achieved and Ger Copeland set a new marathon record for Avondale when he completed the five laps (plus the 1.2 mile loop) in a time of 2:53:29 followed by Justin Doyle and Paul Murphy.
The first lady home in the marathon was Anita Barry in a time of 4:11 followed by Liz Morrin and Pauline Titier.
Ray Cassin and James McLeod both completed their 100th marathon and were presented with a souvenir of their achievement by EOI.
Also taking part was Marc Conlon, a regular participant in Wicklow Hospice events. Marc had set himself a target of running 30 marathons in 30 days to raise funds for the Peter McVerry Trust, and completed his 15th marathon in as many days.