Kids get a healthy start to summer
CHILDREN from around North Kerry will be able to get the summer off to a healthy start by taking part in one of Ballybunion's great sporting events –a special one-km race for younger runners.
Now in its third year, the Ballybunion Half Marathon and 10-km April Run is focusing more than ever before on the health of young people; a timely aim given the alarming reports about increasing childhood obesity in Ireland. The first children only run was held last year, alongside the main event for adults, when over 300 kids from all over the region took part.
"We really want to grow this children's event," organiser Pat Treacy said. "Senator Eamon Coghlan has launched an initiative from the Seanad to encourage kids to be more active and events like this are the way forward in inculcating a greater awareness and sense of fitness in the young."
The Ballybunion Half Marathon is the only race of its kind in the country to offer a dedicated kids' event of this nature and organisers are calling on all parents in the region to sign their little runners up for the day.
Meanwhile, the event itself — now in its third year — effectively opens the tourist season in Ballybunion every year. "We had over 1,200 runners last year and we estimate the event brings an additional 3,000 visitors to the town, effectively kickstarting the tourist season. Our goals are threefold: to encourage tourism and help rebrand Ballybunion as a health and leisure destination, to promote health and fitness and to provide a platform for charities to raise funds," Mr Treacy explained.
Local charities and organisations to have benefitted to date include the Ballybunion Sea and Cliff Rescue, the Ballybunion Tidy Towns, the Mater Hospital Transplant Unit and the Kerry Crusaders. The third Ballybunion Half Marathon and 10k Run will be held on Saturday, April 7, next.
- DÓNAL NOLAN
