The organisers of the North West 10K say they are hopeful this year’s event will be the biggest and best to date.
This year’s three main charities were announced this evening and they are – the Donegal Mountain Rescue Service, Friends of Letterkenny General Hospital and SNAP (Special Needs Accessible Playpark).
Donegal Daily is one of the two main sponsors of this year’s event which organisers hope will attract up to 3,000 runners and walkers in Letterkenny on May 5th next.
To date the magnificent efforts of the North West 10K event have aided 27 local charities to the tune of more than €614,000.
Grace Boyle, chairperson of the event, said a great deal of planning has gone into this year’s event yet again.
“We are hopeful it will be even bigger and better this year. We had 2,600 participants last year and we are hoping it could be up to 3,000 this year,” she told Donegal Daily.
“We had a very high standard of charity applying for funding and we had some terrific interviews.
“We could only pick three main charities but we are hoping to help as many others as possible.
“They will have their own sponsorship cards and they will be able to fundraise for themselves.
“We will help them but we will ask them to help us,” she said.
Sponsorship cards for the event will be available from the Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce soon to ensure as much money as possible is raised for all the charities.
The cost of entry is €10 for walkers and €15 for runners.
The other major sponsor on the day is Brian McCormick Sports while there are also a number of smaller sponsors for the event.
Further details on the event will be carried on Donegal Daily in the weeks leading up to the big day on May 5th.
All you need to do now is to get out walking and reach a level of fitness you are happy with to get around the 10k course.
Chairperson Grace Boyle said the aim of the NW 10K was to get people out and getting fit.
“With 3,000 people on the streets of Letterkenny it would not be possible without al the agencies and we have a big responsibility.
“It’s a great event and I don’t think there’s anything to touch it. We’re in hard times but so many people come in behind the North West 10K,” she said.
Ms Boyle aslo paid a special tribute to the Letterkenny Community Centre for their contribution and their commitment at the centre.
Spokespeople on behalf of the charities including Joe Brennan from the Donegal Mountain Rescue, Samantha Robinson on behalf of SNAP and Peter Cutliffe on behalf of the Friends of Letterkenny Hospital outlined their aims and thanks the NW 10K committee for choosing them.
An appeal was also put out for 50 stewards to volunteer on the day and help marshall the course along the other services.
Mayor of Letterkenny Dessie Larkin said the event has come on a long way and it will soon be past the one million euro mark of money raised over the years.
“It’s a wonderful day that is dominated by the families. As a council we are engaging with people to see how we can get them out of their homes and their cars and get healthy.
“We are about to spend €80,000 on lineage and signage and cycle lanes. The three charities are also wonderfully deserving charities and need no introduction but it is vital they are supported,” he said.
Donegal Mayor of Letterkenny Frank McBrearty finished the night by saying the three charities speak for themselves.
“All these charities are wonderfully deserving of the help of the North West 10K and it is fitting that we get behind them,” he said.
“The fact that we have 3,000 people participating speaks volumes. These events help communities to come together and when that happens these events can be very, very powerful.
“I have seen a lot of positives since I became the Mayor of Donegal but without people behind the scenes these events would not work,” he said.
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