News
The Annual Mayo.ie Western People Women's Mini Marathon will take place on Sunday May 3rd at 12noon in Castlebar. Keep your eye on this website over the next number of weeks for further announcements.
Entries are now Open for the Mayo.ie Western People Womens Mini Marathon 2020 !!
It's For Girls !!!
With registration in full flow for the Mayo.ie Western People's Women's Mini Marathon, the Mayo Sports Partnership in conjunction with the event partners are encouraging secondary schools and ladies sports clubs from around the county and further afield to get their young girls involved with this year's event through the 'Its For Girls' initiative.
The Mini Marathon, one of the premier sporting events in the West of Ireland is now in its 11th year and this time sees two exciting developments with the involvement of Mayo.ie as an event and a brand new route for 2020, which will start at The Mall on Sunday, May 3.
The 'It's for Girls' initiative is now in its 5th year and sets schools a challenge to get the most girls to take part in the Mayo.ie Western People of Ireland Women's Mini Marathon. The initiative is all about encouraging participation, and entrants are free to take the 10k road race at their own pace, whether they want to walk, jog or run. The more girls each school enters, the better the chance of winning the It's for Girls trophy. It represents a great opportunity for schools across the West of Ireland to encourage their girls to increase fitness levels by training to take on the Mini Marathon, getting healthier and more active in the process.
It's for Girls is a project that has received national recognition by winning the best health and wellbeing project in the 2018 Local Authority Awards and built on that success in 2019 and is hoping to do the same in 2020. This year, the Mayo Sports Partnership, who plays a leading role in promoting an active lifestyle within communities across County Mayo, is aiming for participation in the Mini Marathon by students from every corner of the county.
All participating schools are in with a chance of walking away with the coveted Mayo Sports Partnership Secondary Schools Mini Marathon Its for Girls Trophy, with winners being decided on a percentage basis of girls over the age of 12. The entry fee per student is only €10 (the normal cost of entry is €20). Teachers, coaches or mentors from the school can also enter as part of the team for only €10. All participants will also receive a t-shirt and a medal for their entry fee.
Interested schools should register with Mayo Sports Partnership. Once registered, they will automatically be listed on the Mini Marathon website www.westofirelandwomensminimarathon.com. For further information, contact Deirdre Donnelly at Mayo Sports Partnership on 0949064360
Check Out details of our new Route !
The Mayo.ie Western People's Women's Mini Marathon, now in its eleventh year, has introduced a new route to shake up the West of Ireland's premier road race for women. The Mini Marathon will take place on May Bank Holiday weekend on Sunday, May 3rd and registration for the event is now open.
The event will start, as always, from the Mall in Castlebar but will from there, take a new path that promises to offer the same challenge that it has always offered for competitive and the same kind of fun route for those who wish to take it at their own pace.
From outside Castlebar Garda Station, it will move onto Spencer Street and head towards the roundabout at Cathal Duffy's, where competitors will turn left onto Lawn Road towards the Dublin Roundabout at Mulroy's. There, it moves back into the heart of town, straight through the roundabout at Lidl, right onto Charles Street Lower and then onto Lucan Street. The next move sees entrants make their way onto Main Street and then taking a right onto Shamble Street, through Market Square onto the Newport Road.
Runners, walkers and joggers from all walks of life will then continue straight through the traffic lights at St Gerald's College and right onto Pound Road. The route then takes the first left onto Garryduff Park and continues to the end of Garryduff Park and onto Snugboro. It continues to Snugboro School and moves left back towards the Newport Road. Instead of retracing steps, the route then turns right at the Blackfort Avenue entrance towards Lough Lannagh. It continues through Lough Lannagh, over the bridge towards the car park. Nearly there.
The final trek brings runners onto the Lannagh Road, making a right turn at the Ellison Hotel towards the TF, and onto the road in front of the TF. From there, it is a straight run towards the traffic lights and right back towards the Mall. All entrants will then finish up back where they started outside of Castlebar Garda Station, with 10 kilometres of road under their belt.
To register for the Mayo.ie Western People Women's Mini-Marathon, go online to http://www.westofirelandwomensminimarathon.com or contact the Mayo Sports Partnership office on 0949064360 for the Early Bird cost of €20.
For this fee, all Early Bird entrants will get a t-shirt and a medal in recognition of their participation and entry into a draw to win a hotel stay at the luxurious Plaza Hotel Westport.
All entries after April 1, 2020, will cost €25. All entries will include an online booking fee.
Get Your Charity Involved This Year ...
The Mayo.ie Western People's Mini-Marathon in association with the Mayo Sports Partnership is currently seeking charity partners for what it is hoping will be its biggest and best event to date. Now in its eleventh year of running, the groups behind the west of Ireland's premier road-race would like to thank countless charities for their support over the past decade by offering the opportunity to buy bulk entries for the event at a special reduction of 25%.
This reduction would provide charities to sell on the entries at a cost decided by the individual charities, which would give them more control over fundraising. As well as this, it ensures that all monies raised will be going directly to charitable causes.
The offer consists of a minimum purchase of 30 entries at €15 euros each with all finishers still receiving a T-shirt and a medal. This offer also comes with some excellent bonuses aimed at expanding the scope of the charity's outreach within the wider Mayo community.
Charities will have the chance to have their work highlighted in an article in the Western People, the events official media partner in the run-up to the event. All charities who get involved will also have the chance to be included in the events social media campaigns, which boast a cumulative following of over 50,000 people across all platforms. As well as this, all involved charities will be recognized as official charity partners on the events official website, www.westofirelandwomensminimarathon.com.
The Mini-Marathon has benefited many charities throughout its existence and the event is widely regarded as an excellent opportunity for fundraising, having raised over €1.5 million for local charities over the past decade, with new charities getting involved year-on-year. This year, the Cancer Fund for Children who are aiming to raise €11.5 million to build a new therapeutic facility for children with cancer in Cong named Daisy Lodge have gotten on board for the Mini-Marathon.
Belinda Kearns, Relationship Development Manager with Cancer Fund for Children, said; "We are thrilled to be partnering with the groups behind the event. We need the support of the local community and businesses to make our vision of a new therapeutic short break centre in Co Mayo real for even more families affected by childhood cancer and we are delighted that Mayo.ie, the Western People and the Mayo Sports Partnership are joining us on our journey."
Mayo.ie, the Western People and the Mayo Sports Partnership have extended their thanks to all charities who have gotten involved and supported the Mini-Marathon since it first came into being over a decade ago, and to wish all charities every success.
For charities interested in getting involved in the 11th edition of Mayo's most empowering and extraordinary road-race and availing of the exclusive offer and securing entries, the next step is to contact the Mayo Sports Partnership on 094 9064360 or by emailing minimarathon2020@gmail.com. Charities will be required to provide their logo, a contact person and details.
Payments can be made either at the Mayo Sports Partnership offices in Mayo House, Moneen Road, Castlebar or sent in via postal order. Cheques are to be made payable to Mayo County Council.
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The Western People 24th February 2020
The Women's Mini-Marathon, widely regarded as the premier sporting occasions and road races for women in the west of Ireland, is back for its eleventh year of running, with a slight twist. Previously known as the Western People West of Ireland Women's Mini-Marathon, it is still being sponsored by the regions leading newspaper but a new sponsor has come on board, Mayo.ie.
The event will be known as the Mayo.ie Western People Women's Mini-Marathon, held in conjunction with the Mayo Sports Partnership. To mark the new era for the legendary road race, a new route will be in place for the event, taking place on Sunday, May 3, 2020, although it will begin as always, on The Mall.
It once again promises to be one of the exciting and fantastic events in both the Mayo and road racing calendar, with plenty of entertainment at The Mall. This year also marks the return once again of the Mini-Mini, a 2K fun run for school boys and girls of all ages. Last year, the Mini-Marathon took place on the May Bank Holiday weekend, a weekend which came with much joy for Mayo people the world over, as it coincided with the celebration of Mayo Day and with the 'Green & Red' takeover of Times Square, as Mayo beat New York in the Connacht Championship.
In 2019, the Mini-Marathon had over 1,600 participants in the main race, with 700 kids taking part in the Mini-Mini. The first one to pass the finishing line was Norah Pieterse from Ballina, who crossed in an impressive 37 minutes and 38 seconds. Over the past decade, the race has had over 25,000 participants and has raised €1.5 million for local charities.
The Mini-Marathon is open to all girls and women of all ages and abilities who wish to run, walk or jog the 10k route. Competitive runners can be sure of a high standard of racing - with Irish Olympian Sonia O'Sullivan a regular entrant at the event - but fun runners and those who just want to be part of what promises to be an exciting day are also more than welcome to take part.
The Mayo Sports Partnership, a community leader in promoting active lifestyles, are encouraging entries from all girls and women interested in taking part and hope to see as many as possible taking to the track to undergo the 10K at their pace.
The registration period for the event opens today, Monday, February 24, and there is a special early bird fee of €20 for all entries before April 1, 2020. Entries thereafter will cost €25. All entries include an online booking fee. For this fee, all entrants will get a t-shirt and a medal in recognition of their participation. For teenagers and school-going girls, they can register for the Mini-Marathon through their school for €10. Registration for the Mini-Mini is free. All registrations can be made by contacting the Mayo Sports Partnership office on 094 9064360 or online at http://www.westofirelandwomensminimarathon.com/ or by emailing minimarathon2020@gmail.com
Be sure to keep an eye on the social media channels of the Western People and of the Mini-Marathon for exciting competitions with some fabulous prizes as we build-up to the Mayo.ie Western People Women's Mini-Marathon.
With registration in full flow for the Mayo.ie Western People's Women's Mini Marathon, the Mayo Sports Partnership in conjunction with the event partners are encouraging secondary schools and ladies sports clubs from around the county and further afield to get their young girls involved with this year's event through the 'Its For Girls' initiative.
The Mini Marathon, one of the premier sporting events in the West of Ireland is now in its 11th year and this time sees two exciting developments with the involvement of Mayo.ie as an event and a brand new route for 2020, which will start at The Mall on Sunday, May 3.
The 'It's for Girls' initiative is now in its 5th year and sets schools a challenge to get the most girls to take part in the Mayo.ie Western People of Ireland Women's Mini Marathon. The initiative is all about encouraging participation, and entrants are free to take the 10k road race at their own pace, whether they want to walk, jog or run. The more girls each school enters, the better the chance of winning the It's for Girls trophy. It represents a great opportunity for schools across the West of Ireland to encourage their girls to increase fitness levels by training to take on the Mini Marathon, getting healthier and more active in the process.
It's for Girls is a project that has received national recognition by winning the best health and wellbeing project in the 2018 Local Authority Awards and built on that success in 2019 and is hoping to do the same in 2020. This year, the Mayo Sports Partnership, who plays a leading role in promoting an active lifestyle within communities across County Mayo, is aiming for participation in the Mini Marathon by students from every corner of the county.
All participating schools are in with a chance of walking away with the coveted Mayo Sports Partnership Secondary Schools Mini Marathon Its for Girls Trophy, with winners being decided on a percentage basis of girls over the age of 12. The entry fee per student is only €10 (the normal cost of entry is €20). Teachers, coaches or mentors from the school can also enter as part of the team for only €10. All participants will also receive a t-shirt and a medal for their entry fee.
Interested schools should register with Mayo Sports Partnership. Once registered, they will automatically be listed on the Mini Marathon website www.westofirelandwomensminimarathon.com. For further information, contact Deirdre Donnelly at Mayo Sports Partnership on 0949064360
Check Out details of our new Route !
The Mayo.ie Western People's Women's Mini Marathon, now in its eleventh year, has introduced a new route to shake up the West of Ireland's premier road race for women. The Mini Marathon will take place on May Bank Holiday weekend on Sunday, May 3rd and registration for the event is now open.
The event will start, as always, from the Mall in Castlebar but will from there, take a new path that promises to offer the same challenge that it has always offered for competitive and the same kind of fun route for those who wish to take it at their own pace.
From outside Castlebar Garda Station, it will move onto Spencer Street and head towards the roundabout at Cathal Duffy's, where competitors will turn left onto Lawn Road towards the Dublin Roundabout at Mulroy's. There, it moves back into the heart of town, straight through the roundabout at Lidl, right onto Charles Street Lower and then onto Lucan Street. The next move sees entrants make their way onto Main Street and then taking a right onto Shamble Street, through Market Square onto the Newport Road.
Runners, walkers and joggers from all walks of life will then continue straight through the traffic lights at St Gerald's College and right onto Pound Road. The route then takes the first left onto Garryduff Park and continues to the end of Garryduff Park and onto Snugboro. It continues to Snugboro School and moves left back towards the Newport Road. Instead of retracing steps, the route then turns right at the Blackfort Avenue entrance towards Lough Lannagh. It continues through Lough Lannagh, over the bridge towards the car park. Nearly there.
The final trek brings runners onto the Lannagh Road, making a right turn at the Ellison Hotel towards the TF, and onto the road in front of the TF. From there, it is a straight run towards the traffic lights and right back towards the Mall. All entrants will then finish up back where they started outside of Castlebar Garda Station, with 10 kilometres of road under their belt.
To register for the Mayo.ie Western People Women's Mini-Marathon, go online to http://www.westofirelandwomensminimarathon.com or contact the Mayo Sports Partnership office on 0949064360 for the Early Bird cost of €20.
For this fee, all Early Bird entrants will get a t-shirt and a medal in recognition of their participation and entry into a draw to win a hotel stay at the luxurious Plaza Hotel Westport.
All entries after April 1, 2020, will cost €25. All entries will include an online booking fee.
Get Your Charity Involved This Year ...
The Mayo.ie Western People's Mini-Marathon in association with the Mayo Sports Partnership is currently seeking charity partners for what it is hoping will be its biggest and best event to date. Now in its eleventh year of running, the groups behind the west of Ireland's premier road-race would like to thank countless charities for their support over the past decade by offering the opportunity to buy bulk entries for the event at a special reduction of 25%.
This reduction would provide charities to sell on the entries at a cost decided by the individual charities, which would give them more control over fundraising. As well as this, it ensures that all monies raised will be going directly to charitable causes.
The offer consists of a minimum purchase of 30 entries at €15 euros each with all finishers still receiving a T-shirt and a medal. This offer also comes with some excellent bonuses aimed at expanding the scope of the charity's outreach within the wider Mayo community.
Charities will have the chance to have their work highlighted in an article in the Western People, the events official media partner in the run-up to the event. All charities who get involved will also have the chance to be included in the events social media campaigns, which boast a cumulative following of over 50,000 people across all platforms. As well as this, all involved charities will be recognized as official charity partners on the events official website, www.westofirelandwomensminimarathon.com.
The Mini-Marathon has benefited many charities throughout its existence and the event is widely regarded as an excellent opportunity for fundraising, having raised over €1.5 million for local charities over the past decade, with new charities getting involved year-on-year. This year, the Cancer Fund for Children who are aiming to raise €11.5 million to build a new therapeutic facility for children with cancer in Cong named Daisy Lodge have gotten on board for the Mini-Marathon.
Belinda Kearns, Relationship Development Manager with Cancer Fund for Children, said; "We are thrilled to be partnering with the groups behind the event. We need the support of the local community and businesses to make our vision of a new therapeutic short break centre in Co Mayo real for even more families affected by childhood cancer and we are delighted that Mayo.ie, the Western People and the Mayo Sports Partnership are joining us on our journey."
Mayo.ie, the Western People and the Mayo Sports Partnership have extended their thanks to all charities who have gotten involved and supported the Mini-Marathon since it first came into being over a decade ago, and to wish all charities every success.
For charities interested in getting involved in the 11th edition of Mayo's most empowering and extraordinary road-race and availing of the exclusive offer and securing entries, the next step is to contact the Mayo Sports Partnership on 094 9064360 or by emailing minimarathon2020@gmail.com. Charities will be required to provide their logo, a contact person and details.
Payments can be made either at the Mayo Sports Partnership offices in Mayo House, Moneen Road, Castlebar or sent in via postal order. Cheques are to be made payable to Mayo County Council.
****************************************************
The Western People 24th February 2020
The Women's Mini-Marathon, widely regarded as the premier sporting occasions and road races for women in the west of Ireland, is back for its eleventh year of running, with a slight twist. Previously known as the Western People West of Ireland Women's Mini-Marathon, it is still being sponsored by the regions leading newspaper but a new sponsor has come on board, Mayo.ie.
The event will be known as the Mayo.ie Western People Women's Mini-Marathon, held in conjunction with the Mayo Sports Partnership. To mark the new era for the legendary road race, a new route will be in place for the event, taking place on Sunday, May 3, 2020, although it will begin as always, on The Mall.
It once again promises to be one of the exciting and fantastic events in both the Mayo and road racing calendar, with plenty of entertainment at The Mall. This year also marks the return once again of the Mini-Mini, a 2K fun run for school boys and girls of all ages. Last year, the Mini-Marathon took place on the May Bank Holiday weekend, a weekend which came with much joy for Mayo people the world over, as it coincided with the celebration of Mayo Day and with the 'Green & Red' takeover of Times Square, as Mayo beat New York in the Connacht Championship.
In 2019, the Mini-Marathon had over 1,600 participants in the main race, with 700 kids taking part in the Mini-Mini. The first one to pass the finishing line was Norah Pieterse from Ballina, who crossed in an impressive 37 minutes and 38 seconds. Over the past decade, the race has had over 25,000 participants and has raised €1.5 million for local charities.
The Mini-Marathon is open to all girls and women of all ages and abilities who wish to run, walk or jog the 10k route. Competitive runners can be sure of a high standard of racing - with Irish Olympian Sonia O'Sullivan a regular entrant at the event - but fun runners and those who just want to be part of what promises to be an exciting day are also more than welcome to take part.
The Mayo Sports Partnership, a community leader in promoting active lifestyles, are encouraging entries from all girls and women interested in taking part and hope to see as many as possible taking to the track to undergo the 10K at their pace.
The registration period for the event opens today, Monday, February 24, and there is a special early bird fee of €20 for all entries before April 1, 2020. Entries thereafter will cost €25. All entries include an online booking fee. For this fee, all entrants will get a t-shirt and a medal in recognition of their participation. For teenagers and school-going girls, they can register for the Mini-Marathon through their school for €10. Registration for the Mini-Mini is free. All registrations can be made by contacting the Mayo Sports Partnership office on 094 9064360 or online at http://www.westofirelandwomensminimarathon.com/ or by emailing minimarathon2020@gmail.com
Be sure to keep an eye on the social media channels of the Western People and of the Mini-Marathon for exciting competitions with some fabulous prizes as we build-up to the Mayo.ie Western People Women's Mini-Marathon.
Girl's deserve support in their sporting dreams
Irish international athlete Jessie Barr was among the speakers at the recent Girls and Women in Sport seminar in GMIT Castlebar — at which the eighth annual Western People West of Ireland Mini-Marathon was officially launched.
Waterford-born Jessie Barr is a 400m hurdles specialist who competed in the 2012 Olympics in London as part of
the Irish 4x400m relay team. She is also a European Athletics Championship finalist and a World University Games
finalist. But she hasn’t raced competitively since 2013. She remains a full-time athlete, training daily at the University
of Limerick where she is currently studying for a PhD in Sports Psychology, but a string of injuries have curtailed
the last four years of her career. She is also the elder sister of Thomas Barr, who shot to national prominence last
summer when he finished fourth in the final of 400m hurdles at the Rio Olympic. Jessie Barr was in town to
speak to the crowd of hundreds, comprised primarily of female students from schools around Mayo, about girls in sport, the challenges they face and why, in stark comparison to their male counterparts, girls tend to drop out of sport in such numbers in their teenage years. Barr said that young girls were facing undue pressures — from society at large, and from their own peer groups —to turn their backs on sport. She told the story of her own teenage years, as a secondary school pupil, and how she often felt close to packing in her own sporting activities, especially when the friends and teammates she had grown up training and competing with began to drop away.
Barr described her younger self as a decent all-round athlete without ever being exceptional in one specific discipline
— she was 17 before she discovered the 400m hurdles, the sport that would eventually take her to international
competition — but emphasized how delighted and grateful she is as an adult that she stuck with sport in her teens.
She encouraged the members of the audience to do the same; sport, she said, can be as part of a team or, like
Barr herself, as an individual. The point is persevering, finding the sport that best suits the individual’s needs, and
reaping the benefits in terms of physical and mental health, pushing oneself to achieve and making friends along the way. Barr was talented enough, and fortunate enough, to progress all the way to the Olympic Games. And, despite her recent injury travails, it was easy to see how much she still enjoys training and competing as an elite athlete.
Not every young girl considering taking up a sport, or thinking about leaving a sport behind, will go that far.
For most, sport is something to be embraced and enjoyed; girls should be allowed an encouraged to do just that.
Notes from the 2017 Launch of
Women's Mini Marathon
It was a star-studded line up of some of Ireland’s leading sportspeople that congregated in GMIT Castlebar on Thursday morning last the 8th February for the Girls and Women in Sport seminar, hosted by the Mayo Sports Partnership. The seminar was also the setting for the official launch of the 2017 western people West of Ireland Women’s Mini-Marathon. The Mini-Marathon, which this year takes place on Sunday, April 30 from The Mall in Castlebar, is now into it’s eighth year and has raised over €1.7million for local and national charities to date. This year’s event, which is being organised by the mayo Sports Partnership in partnership with the Western People and Mayo.ie, is expected to be the biggest and best yet. Over 3,500 runners, joggers and walkers took part in the race in 2016 and organizers are confident of that number rising yet again this year. The event follows a 10k route around the county town and participants are encouraged to take part at their own pace. Runners who have taken part in the mini-marathon in recent years include Irish athletic legend Sonia O’Sullivan, Irish Olympian Lizzie Lee and Belmullet native Sinead Diver, who returned mayo from her adoptive Melbourne to take part in the race. There was a similarly stellar cast of female sporting talent at the launch of the 2017 Mini-Marathon this week. Try this for a roll-call: Irish Olympic hurdler Jessie Barr, Irish Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane, international canoeist Jenny Egan, Mayo ladies football great Cora Staunton and RTE Sport anchor Jacqui Hurley. They were all in town to take part in the Girls and Women in Sport seminar, which aimed to encourage more girls to play a more active role in all kinds of sport. Over 300 girls from schools around the county journeyed to GMIT to gain the insights of some of Ireland’s greatest female athletes, hearing their stories of success and listening to the difficulties they had to face along the way.
Women's Mini Marathon
It was a star-studded line up of some of Ireland’s leading sportspeople that congregated in GMIT Castlebar on Thursday morning last the 8th February for the Girls and Women in Sport seminar, hosted by the Mayo Sports Partnership. The seminar was also the setting for the official launch of the 2017 western people West of Ireland Women’s Mini-Marathon. The Mini-Marathon, which this year takes place on Sunday, April 30 from The Mall in Castlebar, is now into it’s eighth year and has raised over €1.7million for local and national charities to date. This year’s event, which is being organised by the mayo Sports Partnership in partnership with the Western People and Mayo.ie, is expected to be the biggest and best yet. Over 3,500 runners, joggers and walkers took part in the race in 2016 and organizers are confident of that number rising yet again this year. The event follows a 10k route around the county town and participants are encouraged to take part at their own pace. Runners who have taken part in the mini-marathon in recent years include Irish athletic legend Sonia O’Sullivan, Irish Olympian Lizzie Lee and Belmullet native Sinead Diver, who returned mayo from her adoptive Melbourne to take part in the race. There was a similarly stellar cast of female sporting talent at the launch of the 2017 Mini-Marathon this week. Try this for a roll-call: Irish Olympic hurdler Jessie Barr, Irish Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane, international canoeist Jenny Egan, Mayo ladies football great Cora Staunton and RTE Sport anchor Jacqui Hurley. They were all in town to take part in the Girls and Women in Sport seminar, which aimed to encourage more girls to play a more active role in all kinds of sport. Over 300 girls from schools around the county journeyed to GMIT to gain the insights of some of Ireland’s greatest female athletes, hearing their stories of success and listening to the difficulties they had to face along the way.
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