As the world looks different in 2020, so did the Australian 2020 #YLGlobal5k.
Considering the ongoing impacts of the global pandemic, and The Ireland Funds Australia being unable to hold in-person events, we made the decision to commit to running the Global 5k, but in a way that was safe for all participants, so we went remote!
Officially launched by Irish Olympian and Global 5k Ambassador Sonia O’Sullivan, we encouraged everyone to join us this year, runners and walkers, young and old alike, from all around Australia, downloading our SportSplits tracker app to practice and watching tips and tricks from our Ambassadors in the lead up to the run. We even had Captain Ronan Finn and the lads from the Shamrock Rovers F.C. wish everyone good luck, on the eve of their Europa League qualifier against AC Milan
The weekend of 19 – 20 September arrived and 237 participants recorded their run on a 5km course of their choosing, their times being tracked via our app.
It was truly a unique experience to watch runners from every corner of Australia completing their runs, and comparing their times to others across Australia and the world.
Worldwide we had over 700 runners from 16 cities from around the world join us, making it a truly global event.
Chairman of The Ireland Funds Australia Yvonne Le Bas and Sydney Swans Coach Tadhg Kennelly wished everyone good luck, Caroline from Outright Change Fitness provided a quick warm up everyone could follow before they headed out, with Physiotherapist Damian Murphy looking after our runners with a post-run cool down, videos watched via our SportSplits Tracker app thanks to Multisport.
Australia’s fastest male runner was Stephen Keane with an impressive time of 18.53 and our fastest female runner was Geraldine Campbell, with a time of 21.52, Geraldine also took out the top prize in 2019! Both winners will receive a $125 voucher thanks to Brooks Running.
Running Results
All the run results can be viewed here.
Whilst we could not be together as normal, our participants helped us showcase Australia, making memories and sharing images of their run, with some iconic locations, COVID safe teams and cute and cuddly helpers.
Our favourite finishers were rewarded with a $100 Gym+Coffee voucher (Eoin Toolan from Melbourne) and a $100 RunFaster voucher (Antoinette Quinlan from Sydney).
The best dressed teams were The Irish Support Agency’s team, along with the St Patrick’s Day Parade Team and John Fallon’s family who will all receive a hamper of goodies from home thanks to Taste Ireland.
Our furry friends were not forgotten, as we had 3 vouchers from DOGUE up for grabs; it was a tough competition but the winners were Owen Feeney, Rebecca Powell and Enda Murray with their dogs.
The Ireland Funds Australia are committed to supporting projects of impact in Ireland and Australia and given everything that is happening around the world, for this year’s Global 5k, The Australian Young Leaders chose to support projects around mental health. The funds raised from the 2020 Global 5k will support MyMind in Ireland and Beyond Blue in Australia.
MyMind is the first and largest blended model of mental health care in Ireland and is putting Ireland at the forefront of mental health innovation, providing counselling and psychotherapy services and working towards giving every person in Ireland equal access to mental health support early, affordably, directly, without stigma or delay.
Beyond Blue‘s vision is for everyone in Australia to achieve their best possible mental health. Beyond Blue are breaking down the stigma, prejudice and discrimination that act as barriers to people reaching out for support. Anxiety and depression can be managed, suicide can be prevented. That’s why Beyond Blue are there.
The 2020 Global 5k would not have been possible without the support of our wonderful sponsors including Lifestyle Solutions, The Lansdowne Club, Glen Dimplex, FINEOS, MCG Civil, Clonakilty, Aircom, Concise Infrastructure Consultancy, Gym+Coffee, and Taste Ireland.
On behalf of our committee we wish to thank all who participated in this year’s run or supported those fundraising for the event. Everyone helped make the 2020 run a truly Global 5k!
The Australian Young Leaders are proudly sponsored by Lifestyle Solutions and these generous sponsors.
