5k or 10k of fun this Sunday with The Downs Valentines Run
The Downs 5/10k Valentines Run is on this Sunday, February 15. The run is in support of The Downs LGFA and is a huge event for the community and for athletes across the county.
Anne Marie Corroon is one of the organisers of the event: “We have a great uptake so far, so we have twice as many people as we had last year signed up to it already.
“In years past, we’ve had even more people register in the morning.”
Anne Marie recommends signing up online, in order to beat the inevitable queue on the morning.
“It’s a lovely flat course and one of the really popular things about it as well is that there’s always tea and sandwiches and a few treats afterwards.
“It’s a lovely gathering in the clubhouse afterwards for the prize giving, so I think people really enjoy that as well.”
The run started many years ago but like many events, took a break for a few years following the Covid-19 pandemic. While it took some time to get up and running again The Downs LGFA brought it back bigger and better than ever.
“We made sure it was registered with Athletics Ireland and we’ve really put it as a race on the athletics calendar.
“The 10k in particular has become really popular with athletes.
“The 5k then tends to be a mixture of athletes and fun runners and walkers as well.
“A lot of people enjoy the 10k, it’s because it’s such a flat course, and people tend to get PBs on it ,so it’s a competitive race, the 10k one.
“An, it’s a really good training point as well for the half marathon (the Mullingar half on St Patrick’s Day).”
It’s not just athletes who will be taking part, fun runners, families, walkers all sign up for the event. “We run a Couch to 5k, we do it every year.
“We run it from the first week in January up to the race, this will be the first 5k some of them have run.”
Members of The Downs LGFA will be in attendance, says Anne Marie. “Our senior ladies will be participating and a lot of our minors, U16s and U14s will all be taking part in the race as well.
“We’ll be delighted to see our own players, parents, coaches, and everyone else in the club out running.
“It’s really professionally run, we have chip timing as well and people’s results will be available afterwards, which is always really good for people who like to keep track of their runs.
“The event is growing in popularity every year, it’s really become a race on the calendar for people.”