The Irish Run The World
More than 100 runners registered to join the Melbourne leg of the Young Leaders Global 5k and were treated to glorious sunshine at Albert Park Lake. The annual run, which slotted in nicely between Melbourne Storm and Richmond Tigers’ preliminary final victories in the capital of sport, was a great opportunity for Ireland Fund supporters to come together to support the Fund’s charities both in Australia and at home.
While Melbourne resident and global patron Sonia O’Sullivan was running the Dublin leg, her daughter Sophie O’Sullivan ensured the family were well represented, winning the race in a time of 18’ 16’ ahead of fastest male Tommy Galvin who crossed the finish line in 18’23’. It was also great to see the next generation of Young Leaders, brother and sister, Aidan and Iona Fanning lead the way in our U12 category.
All Ireland medallist Ciaran Sheehan who plays AFL for Carlton got the race under way alongside AFLW Melbourne FC star Laura Duryea. Melbourne Rebels Head Performance Analyst Eoin Toolan was the fastest committee member over the finish line recording a time of 21’ 16’. The Melbourne committee would like to extend special thanks to Gerard McLenaghan from the Melbourne Rebels media department who captured all the action for a soon to be released video.
The event in Melbourne which contributed to a global fundraising goal of $100k and raised funds for Australian Young Leaders chosen charities in 2017 – Suas and the GO Foundation – would not have been possible without the support of sponsors including Salts of the Earth, QASAIR, the Irish Chamber of Commerce and PJ O’Briens as well as prize donations from Flowers Made Easy and Noirin McKeon. As mentioned by Melbourne Committee Co-Chair Sandra Booth during the prize giving, the post run barbeque featuring delicacies from home, thanks to sponsor Clonakilty, helps attract strong numbers every year.
The Melbourne committee wish to thank all who participated in this year’s run or supported those fundraising for the event. As for the perfect weather, which has become an annual feature of the event, we can only hope it continues in 2018!
Photos by Gerard McLenaghan
Results
5K Information
