HUNDREDS of athletes will gather in Raheny this weekend for one of the most eagerly awaited events in the athletics calendar.
The 32nd AXA Raheny 5 Mile Road Race will take place on Sunday, January 31 at 3pm.
The event, which is promoted by Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club, is now rated as one of the country’s leading road races.
It was founded in 1985 by former Olympian Pat Hooper. More than 30 years later Pat is still the driving force behind the event in his capacity as race director.
The course remains the same with the race beginning near Raheny Garda Station and roughly incorporating an outside lap of St Anne’s Park via a series of left hand turns. Chip timing will be used to accurately measure the finishing time of all competitors.
The promoting club’s three time Irish Cross Country champion Mick Clohisey was second last year and is hoping to go one better this year.
The ladies’ course record now stands at 25.37 set by North Sligo’s Mary Cullen in 2014. It is the fastest five-mile time ever run by an Irish girl and was also a world leading time in 2014.
Rio de Janeiro Olympics bound and a member of Ireland’s bronze medal winning team at the recent European Cross Country Championship, Lizzie Lee, won last year’s ladies’ race.
It is hoped that the other members of the team Fionnuala Britton, Caroline Crowley and Ciara Durkin, regular competitors in the event, will compete this year.
Participants can enter the race online at www.rahenyshamrock.ie or drop your entry into the AXA Insurance Office, 4 Main Street, Raheny.
The AXA Office in Raheny will be open on Saturday, January 30 between 10am and 4pm for number collection and late entries. No entries will be taken on the day.
There are also three kids’ races before the main event, a special category for walkers, which will begin at 2.40pm while the wheelchair race begins at 2.58pm.
Once again this year’s nominated Charity is St Francis Hospice in Raheny. Over the years thousands of euro have been raised for this very worthy charity.
So get your trainers out and get ready for the AXA Raheny 5 and finish January with a bang!