It is often said that Brisbane is “beautiful one day and perfect the next” and it certainly didn’t disappoint on the 26th September 2015 for the start of the 2nd annual Ireland Funds Global 5k run.
It was still Friday afternoon in New York and lunchtime in LA, when participants began arriving, bleary-eyed, on a beautiful sunny morning in Southbank Parklands, for the 7am start of the Brisbane leg.
Donning green jerseys, the 14 participants, ranging in age from 7 year old Isabella Hourigan to long-time supporter and Director of the Australian Ireland Fund, Dr Tom Moore, completed their warm ups and took their places on the starting line with Michael Bradburn, CFO of Platinum Sponsor, Brisbane Airport, in pole position with his 8 year old son James.
Their lead didn’t last long though with Paul Doherty setting the pace as the runners crossed the Brisbane River. Following the North bank of the river for 2km before crossing back to the South Bank over the William Jolly bridge, Paul and running partner Louise kept pace with each other as they passed by the amazing Aboriginal murals and river mangroves, into the home stretch. The pair were neck and neck coming into the final straight, but Paul crossed the line first, in a time of 21:52.
A respectable start on a beautiful morning and the Brisbane chapter passed the virtual baton over to their friends in Sydney for the second leg.