On April 3rd, 2024, we, the 2nd year sport and exercise students, held a 5km county colour/jersey fundraising run in memory of Jacinta O’Brien, a former staff member of the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences here at the University of Limerick. Jacinta was an inspiration to all around her and an advocate of healthy and active living. We were honoured to continue Jacinta’s legacy of promoting active living with the running of this memorial run on the year of her 20th anniversary. In total 221 runners registered for the event and €1,601.50 was raised for our chosen charity Limerick Suicide Watch.
Awards were presented to the fastest male on the day was Felix Bleier (18 minutes 19 seconds) and the fastest female Karen Raine (24 minutes 21 seconds). We also wanted to give a shoutout to Dr Alex Gamble – one of our lectures in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences who finished in the top 5 runners of the event, good job Alex!
Pictured are some of the runners, including Physical Education and Sport Sciences department member, Dr Alex Gamble.
Despite the poor conditions on the day there was a great atmosphere generated by the runners and the students when they arrived to the UL track. In the build up to the run we had some guest speakers for memorial like Dave Mahedy – who was a friend of Jacinta O’Brien’s and spoke so eloquently about Jacinta’s life and impact on those around her; and representatives from Limerick Suicide Watch who spoke about the impact of the work they do in the Limerick area.
Pictured are representatives from Limerick Suicide Watch and Dave Mahedy addressing the runners prior to the start of the run at the University of Limerick running track.
Prior to the memorial run, on March 20th we also held a mini event in the University courtyard to raise awareness of the event and to encourage to people to take part in the run. The kicking accuracy challenge garnered lots of attention due to the prizes that were offered (i.e., a race day ticket) and the great atmosphere that was there on the day. Throughout the day nearly 300 people took part in the min-event event, and we raised close to €500 towards the charity.
The second year Sport Science students, and Department staff (Dr Ian Sherwin, Dr Caoimhe Tiernan and Dr Emmet Mc Dermott) would like to thank all those who contributed to the successful running of the 20th Annual Jacinta O’Brien Memorial Run, including: Shauna O’Halloran at UL Student Life for their input and managing the finances; Rob Hickey, safety officer at UL for providing the students with guidance in planning the Health and Safety aspects of running an event and Rob’s help on the day; Neasa O’Donnell at UL sport for their input on running the event; Dave Mahedy, who spoke prior to the event about Jacinta’s life; Limerick Suicide watch who spoke on the day about their work in Limerick; and the Terrace at the Arena UL, who hosted the runners and awards presentation after the event. We would also like to thank all businesses that provided prizes for the event, including UL Sport, Supervalu in Castletroy, Odeon Cinema in Limerick, Aces Restaurant in Castletroy and Lloyds Pharmacy in Castletroy.
Finally, we would like to thank everyone who donated through our two events. The money raised will go towards a good cause in Limerick Suicide Watch, who dedicate themselves to patrolling the rivers and bridges of Limerick City.
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