250 women take part in Dublin City Council’s Mini Marathon programme

Dublin City Council has 250 participants taking part in this year’s Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon.

The women have all been taking part in the ‘Journey to the 2023 Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon Programme’.

The programme began in mid-March and has motivated the women to participate in a 12 week guided activity plan that has brought them from walking level to novice runners.

It aims to increase fitness, develop confidence and prepare them for the for the big race day.

Céline O’Reilly a participant in the programme said, “Thank you to our local Sports Officer for organising the fantastic training sessions.

“I really enjoyed the sessions and can’t believe I’ve come as far as doing the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon in June, not bad for a retiree!”

Her sentiments were echoed by Margaret Roxburgh, “Thank you for a great programme. It’s been years since I took part in the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon. I really enjoyed our training sessions every Wednesday and getting fit, especially grateful to our coach, for her encouragement and motivation.”

Céline and Margaret are members of the Albert College Park Sports Group.

The Journey to the 2023 Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon Programme; is the product of a collaboration between the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon and Dublin City Sport & Wellbeing Partnership.

The programme has been funded by the Active Cities Dublin Project.

Aideen O’Connor, General Manager, Dublin City Sport and Wellbeing Partnership said, “I wish all our participants from our 12 week programme the very best of luck in the race. All the hard work and effort put in over the last weeks will be all worthwhile, all that is left to do is toe the line and enjoy every minute!”

Active Cities is an initiative driven by Sport Ireland through the Dormant Accounts Fund and participating cities include Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. It is guided by the World Health Organisation’s GAPPA Framework, which is based on getting those people least active, active.

“The project is built around 4 pillars – Active Systems, Active Environments, Active Societies and Active People.

As the biggest all female event of its kind in the world, and one of the country’s largest one day charity fundraising events, the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon represents a vital part of the charity fundraising calendar.  The event has been instrumental in helping hundreds of charities raise money for their causes, with over €226 million raised for charities since the event began in 1983.

Dublin City Council is proud to be a major sponsor of the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon.

As the largest local authority in the country, one of our objectives is to enable and inspire people of all ages and abilities in Dublin city to participate and engage in sport and physical activity to improve their general health and wellbeing.

We are delighted to be supporting one of the city’s largest annual events, which brings great colour and vibrancy to the streets of Dublin, and we would like to wish all the women taking part in this year’s event the very best of luck!