Dublin City’s biggest ever Marathon saw 19,500 runners take to the streets on Sunday. Most returning to work today will appreciate the extra 24 hours of recovery with the race having been moved to Sunday from it’s traditional Monday slot.
Tourism authorities will also be applauding with a greater appeal for overseas runners from the race taking place over the weekend.
One of the initiatives which the race generated that we particularly liked this year was a campaign with Dublin City Sport and Wellbeing Partnership and Fingal County Council to bring the idea of running and physical activity into the classroom through a programme that ran over eight weeks since the return to school in September.
The programme started off with kids running 400 metres and building up through four runs a week to cover 25.2 miles, learning about the benefits of activity along the way.
Those who completed the course then got to run the final mile at a special event at the national Sports Campus.
It’s a simple idea but one which gets children involved in the build up to the big race and will hopefully have long term benefits in keeping them aware of the wins to be gained from an active lifestyle.
Thanks to our friend John Greene for bringing the initiative to our attention.
