Business advisors Grant Thornton, Athletics Ireland and Athletics Northern Ireland have today announced the dates for the Grant Thornton Corporate 5K Team Challenge series for 2017. The locations and dates are The Mall, Cork on Wednesday 14th June, Belfast City Airport on Thursday 22nd June 2017, the flagship event, Dublin Docklands will take place on Wednesday 6th September.
Aimed at encouraging social running amongst the business community in Dublin, Cork and Belfast, the event welcomes both seasoned runners as well as beginners. Each run will be a team event, with four participants on each team. Team members’ times are combined to determine the winner in each category. There are three categories; male, female & mixed.
Paul McCann, Managing Partner with Grant Thornton said: “We are delighted to be hosting the 5k Corporate Challenge Series again in 2017. As a team event, these runs offer a great opportunity to build team spirit and generate some healthy competition. The run series has grown hugely in popularity, and this year, we are hosting 3 runs during the summer – in Dublin, Cork and Belfast. I would encourage both employers and employees alike, across the country, to sign up and get involved!”
Event Ambassador, International Athlete Mark Christie commented, “The Grant Thornton Corporate 5K Team Challenge is a great way of encouraging people within the workplace to get or keep fit. Each year the event is made up of runners from those who run regularly to complete beginners. The team element adds a sense of fun & camaraderie amongst work colleagues. I’m really looking forward to taking part of it this year and looking forward to encouraging my colleague to take part with me in the Dublin Docklands on September 6th”
John Foley, Chief Executive of Athletics Ireland, said “As an association one of our core strategic objectives is to promote health and fitness in the population as a whole. This event enables us to reach beyond our core membership into the business community by encouraging them to focus on a fitness programme which targets a 5k run; a good starter point for novice runners.”
Foley added: “Grant Thornton’s sponsorship of this event allows for it to be a revenue earner for the association with profits generated channelled into our Junior High Performance Athletics programmes. These programmes provide support and expertise to close to 100 of our emerging young athletes to help them to fulfil their potential.”
All events are chip timed, each participant will receive a technical t-shirt and goody bag. All participants are encouraged to fundraise for the chosen charity, Make-A-Wish, through www.everydayhero.com/ie/ to which 10% of all registration fees will be donated.
To enter your team now to www.grantthorntoncorporatechallenge.ie
