Over 6,000 now entered SPAR Great Ireland Run SPAR becomes title sponsor of Great Ireland Run
– Elite field boosted by entries of Martin Fagan, Hayley Yelling and Benita Willis
SPAR, one of Ireland’s largest retail food store chains, has become the title sponsor of the Great Ireland Run 2010 which will take place in the Phoenix Park, Dublin on Sunday 18th April.
2010 is the eighth running of the event in Dublin which has grown rapidly in popularity since the first Run in 2003. The event will be called the SPAR Great Ireland Run.
The elite field for the event has been boosted today with the confirmed entries of Irish half-marathon record holder Martin Fagan, current European cross-country champion Hayley Yelling from Great Britain and former World cross-country champion Benita Willis from Australia. Yelling and Willis will provide strong opposition for Sligo’s Mary Cullen who will also compete.The Run is Ireland’s largest mixed 10k road race and is open to runners, joggers and walkers of all abilities. Willie O’ Byrne, Managing Director of SPAR Ireland said: “We are delighted to be the title sponsor of the Great Ireland Run. At SPAR we are strong supporters of athletics on both a local and international level and we see our involvement with the Great Ireland Run as an embodiment of what SPAR stands for in relation to supporting community initiatives.” Last month the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world governing body of athletics conferred an IAAF Road Race Label on the Great Ireland Run, in recognition of the event’s high standard of organisation, elite participation and media profile. This is the first time an Irish event has been recognised in this way by the IAAF. The Run is broadcast live on RTE Two television. The 2010 Run will incorporate the Irish 10k road championships under the auspices of Athletics Ireland and will feature many of Ireland’s best distance runners competing against a top-class field of invited runners from overseas. SPAR has over 470 outlets in Ireland and these will be used to promote the Run and stimulate entries. SPAR has been operating in Ireland since 1963 as part of the Irish owned company, BWG Foods Group. Together with its retail partners, who are both owner operators and franchisees over 15 000 people are currently employed by the group. Welcoming the title sponsorship, David Hart, Communications Director of Nova International, the Run organisers said: “We are tremendously excited to have a blue-chip partner like SPAR joining us to sponsor the Great Ireland Run. Almost 6,000 have already entered this year’s event and we see huge potential in using SPAR’s retail outlets to generate further interest in the event.” Participants are being encouraged to raise funds for good causes and the event’s nominated charities are Our Lady’s Hospice and the Marie Keating Foundation. Barretstown and Temple Street Children’s Hospital are the nominated charities for the Junior Run. SPAR will also be using the event to generate support for its current charity of the year, The 3Ts – Turn the Tide of Suicide, which aims to heighten awareness of the problem of suicide in Ireland and to raise funds to help lower suicide rates through dedicated research, educational support and intervention. Prospective runners can enter online at www.greatirelandrun.org or by calling the SPAR Great Ireland Run Hotline on 1890 930 139.