Orlagh Farmer with Pupils from Ballincollig CS, and Gaelscoláiste Mhuire AG at the recent launch Cork City Marathon is challenging 16- to 18-year old youths to take part in one of Ireland’s largest and most loved Marathons, which will take place on bank holiday Monday 1st June.
The Cork City Marathon Youth Team Challenge was recently launched by Race Director Jim O’Donovan at LeisureWorld in Churchfield as he called on all students, teachers and sports clubs to ‘be proud of it’ and ‘be part of it’, which is this year’s rallying call for the Marathon.
Pupils from Ballincollig CS, and Gaelscoláiste Mhuire AG were in attendance along with one of their sporting heroes from the 2014 All-Ireland winning football team, Orlagh Farmer.
‘The feeling of being part of a big city marathon and having that medal placed over your head is often recounted as a stand-out moment in a person’s life. We want as many of our young people as possible to share that elation and benefit from what will undoubtedly be one of the most challenging and rewarding sporting and personal achievements in their lives.’ explained Michael Carey, Junior Cycle for Teachers, who is actively involved in promoting the event. ‘We have 83 post primary schools in Cork and we want as many of them as possible to put forward a team.’, said John Fitzgibbons from Cork Education and Training Board.
The Cork Youth Challenge is part of the popular Cork City Marathon team relay and is intended for transition year students, in particular, but is open and suitable for all 2nd-level students and members of youth clubs who will be aged 16 years or older on 1st June 2015. The team must comprise 5 members and a Team Leader who is over 18, usually a teacher or youth leader. The event is open to schools and youth clubs nationwide. The early bird cost per team is €60 for entries received before the end of March and entry forms can be downloaded from the website www.corkcitymarathon.ie
Team members can walk, run or combine the two, with each person completing at least one stage of the marathon relay course. The stages range in length from 4.5 to 5.8 miles. A key aspect of this event is that it is not a race, as such, but more of a challenge to get young people to be able to complete a distance of approximately 6 miles and, as a team, to finish the marathon distance.
