It was a day for music and new dates yesterday. The GAA announced that two Championship games would be moving out of Croke Park to accommodate Bruce Springsteen playing the stadium on May 27th and possibly the 28th and 29th.
Tickets go on sale next Thursday and the local residents committee are reported to be happy that there will be a maximum of three concerts this year as their was in 2015 when Ed Sheeran and the Script played the venue. This will be a significant boost to the GAA central revenues and extremely popular among fans for who we share a small Friday treat below.
At the risk of turning into a pseudo Hot Press we can also reveal that the popular Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon will be back again this summer, on a new date of August 7th and will expand to become a festival of rock and racing this year with a 10K run being added to the menu of races taking place.
This year there is an additional social media competition being run in advance of the race inviting runners with stories of their own journey to the race being invited to share that and be in with a chance of winning a trip to Las Vegas later in the year.
“I’m delighted to be involved in this year’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Dublin series – this will be my first time competing but many of my friends have ran it over the last few years and they loved it,” said Race Ambassador Ray Foley (pictured above with sports reporter and former Cork Camogie captain Anna Geary.
“With the Rock ‘n’ Run Idol initiative, there’s an opportunity for so many people to get involved – no matter how experienced or inexperienced a runner you are, we want to hear your story.”
This year’s routes will take in some of Dublin’s iconic landmarks beginning in the Dublin Docklands and taking in O’Connell Street Bridge and the GPO, the Ha’Penny Bridge, Christ Church Cathedral, the Brazen Head Pub, James Joyce Museum, the Guinness Brewery, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Kilmainham Gaol and the Phoenix Park.
“This is a hugely significant route in Ireland’s centenary year, passing many of the significant landmarks and garrisons involved in the 1916 rising,” added Race Director Rob Griffiths
To register for the event and for further information on the Rock ‘n’ Run Idol contest the website can be found at RocknRollDublin.com
And for those Springsteen fans among you, including Tom McCormack who doubtless took time out of preparing for the RBS 6 Nations to punch the air at news of the concerts, here’s a little of what we can look forward to in May. It was taken from the opening night of The River Tour in Pittsburgh on January 16th. Magic.
