Galbally Runners were delighted to present £1500 to John & Ann Marie
from Mary's Meals from money raised from the Galbally 5K & 5 Mile event on the 31st of July. John McKenna of Mary’s Meals informed Galbally Runners that the money raised will feed three classrooms full of children in the third world for a whole year!
A Galbally Runners spokesperson said “We love this charity and the volunteers who run this charity!
Their hard work & passion is incredible, and we are so happy to have been able to help. As you know the cost of everything has gone up. Without doubt, it was only possible with the help of our sponsors, those who attended on the day and those who donated despite not being able to attend. We are so lucky in Galbally and beyond to have businesses, families & supporters who
always come through when they are needed. Their generosity is beyond belief each year and amazes us. We really can’t express how grateful both Galbally Runners and the charity are”.
Galbally Runners are graced to have another Ironman within their ranks, as Oliver Murphy conquered the famous long distance triathlon on Saturday at Celtic Warrior in Mullingar. The Ironman mantra of ‘Anything is Possible’ was epitomised by Oliver’s endeavours when he conquered a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile marathon run in succession. To excel in any one discipline takes hard work, but to become so accomplished in all three disciplines takes incredible dedication and commitment. Oliver has done himself, his family and Galbally Runners proud, overcoming many challenges including only learning to swim in the past few years. A relentless block of training has been undertaken by Oliver over recent months which has been an inspiration to all his fellow runners.
Galbally Runners would like to congratulate all runners who had participated and completed their first 5K run last Wednesday evening. The same group of people started 9 weeks earlier and on evening one stood with their heads down and said things like ‘I’ll never do it’, ‘I’m the unfittest person you’ll meet’. However they done it and we are delighted for them all that they proved themselves wrong. The 5K event started at Parkanaur, they headed for Castlecaulfield, past the historic Caulfield Castle, up over a fairly large climb before heading back to Parkanaur on the Eskra Road. The runners took it all in their stride, chatted & smiled the whole way back to Parkanaur.
We are so incredibly proud of what they all achieved that evening and we hope to see them all out with the main group soon. Well done to you all.
The weekend of 08 Mar 2021 seen 13 Galbally runners take on the David Goggins 4x4x48 (Bad Ass) Challenge. That means that each runner ran 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours. If it wasn't hard enough, our runners ran a little bit more on each run so that they completed 2 marathons in 2 days. To mark the achievement we raised money for a well deserving charity - The Northern Ireland Air Ambulance. The total raised was an amazing £14,587!! Well done to all runners and those who came out to help along the way.
Well done to everyone out on such a wet & windy Wednesday evening taking part in the ‘Run in the Dark’ virtual event covering the 5K or 10K distance. Special mention to Kellie Mc Kenna for bagging a PB IN THE DARK!! Epic!
We chose to run around Craigavon Lakes for a change & bumped into a few others taking part in the challenge! Well done everyone
Conscious that Halloween this year, would be very different for children - we decided to organise a few laps for the GR kids. It was so much fun to see them run around dressed up as all sorts of ghosts & ghouls! Smiles & giggles could be heard all over.
As much as we would have LOVED to open this up to all children - we had to be conscious of Covid guidelines and stick to them. Maybe an idea for next year however!!
The future of GR running... looks bright blue
Last week saw Galbally Runner Richard Bradley complete the Seven Sisters Skyline event in the Derryveagh mountains in Donegal. Taking on Mount Errigal as well as six other peaks, Richard completed the epic run of 50KM with a 4000 meter climb in just over 10 hours. A massive well done to Richard who got his well deserved Pizza straight after the event. We all wonder in awe at what Richard’s next challenge will be.
One major benefit of being involved with Galbally Runners is that we also participate in some charity events. Recently the club took part in a run (Along with Na Fianna Runners) from Galbally to Dungannon and Dungannon to Moy to raise money for this well-deserved charity. Well done to all Galbally runners who participated and thanks to all those who donated.
This day last year... and what a day it was! Our biggest & best yet with some incredible performances from some formidable athletes!
We had walkers, families & runners turn out in huge numbers. During the planning of our events - fun & inclusiveness is always a top priority. Ensuring that everyone feels welcome & enjoys their morning.
We hope to see you all back in Galbally very soon taking on a few ‘rolling hills’
Were you there?? Did you enjoy? Are you
Missing our hills?!
Here’s hoping we get to do it all again soon
Not content with completing numerous marathons, back 2 back marathons, 3 Ironman Competitions, a Double Ironman competition, 50 mile ultra runs up Cappagh Mountain and many, many races of all distances in between... Fergal O'Donnell has Lapped the Lough.
Fergal ran Circa 80 miles AROUND LOUGH NEAGH! Beginning & finishing in Coalisland with plenty of towns along the way
He was joined by Galbally Runners with plenty of us joining him along the way to keep the spirits & craic up.
Many GRs completed distances that they’ve never completed before! ‘Unity is strength... When there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved!
Half Marathon Sunday
Some of our members had formed a group to take part in CannyMan Galbally’s ‘Battle of the musicals’ which was to be in April... this was cancelled due to covid 19.
Their group, Cirque du Sore Legs was made up of Dena Jones, Eadaoin McVeigh, Aidan Quinn, Eugene Hackett, Roisin McElvogue, Brendan Kane & Leona Hurson. They decided to organise a Half Marathon to raise funds for Brainwaves NI
This weekend was chosen to coincide with Carmen Runners ‘virtual’ half marathon event. Thanks folks for putting on this event and getting us all motivated!
Luckily, most of Cirque du Sore Legs are club members and invited GR along YAAAAY
We had 30 runners complete half marathons this morning we managed to grab a quick (distanced) photo at the end of some of the runners who hadn’t already left. During the run, we split everyone into small groups of no more than 6 to ensure we followed current guidelines around covid 19. Man, was it good to see you all again! Even for a quick glance before we set off!!
Special word of thanks to Aidan Quinn who planned the excellent route, water stops, signage to make sure we didn’t get lost & some treats at the end! It was fantastic Aidan and so appreciated!
HUGE CONGRATS to Eadaoin & Annette Donaghy who completed their FIRST ever half
A lot of our runners got dolled up and headed to the Spirit of Running Awards Gala at Armagh City Hotel. This was the first ever Gala Awards Night to recognise and celebrate the growth and impact of running in Northern Ireland and was create by non-other than Galbally Runner Fergal O'Donnell. Clubs, runners, coaches and assisted runners from all over Northern Ireland were represented at this magnificent event and we listened to inspirational stories. We laughed, we cried and we danced the night away. The club is very proud of Fergal for his imagination and action for creating such a magnificent celebration of running and hopefully this will be the first of many of these events.
Galbally Runners were proud to be nominated in 5 different categories.
Peter Cush – Youth Runner of the Year
Brendan Woods – Male Inspirational Runner of the Year
Denise McCann – Outstanding Voluntary Contribution to Running
Denise McCann – Most Inspirational Female Running Coach/Leader
The Galbally Five Mile – Best Five Mile Award
…and we did get a winner. In the words of our host Barra Best..”And the winner is Denise McCann”. Barra’s words are true. “Denise is a driving force of good in her community, developing and nurturing a relatively new club.” She is the founder and main coach leader of our group here in Galbally. She is constantly working behind the scenes for the betterment of GR and those who participate with the group benefit hugely from it. This can be from organising training, coaching sessions, motivating and inspiring the group to organising club gear. Galbally runners are very fortunate to have a person like Denise with her energy and enthusiasm to build Galbally Runners into what it is today and no doubt will continue to group and support running as well as health & wellbeing in the community for years to come. Many a person’s life has been changed for the better in Galbally with the creation of Galbally runners and we have Denise to thank for that. Her phone was bouncing all day with well wishes and people congratulating her from far and near. Well done Denise. Be proud of your creation.
Well done to all nominees across all categories yesterday. You are all amazing.
Galbally Runners is affiliated with Athletics NI
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