‘You should all be so proud of what you have achieved’

Hundreds turn up for their graduation run from The Irish Times Get Running programme

Maureen Brooks, Clontarf, Co Dublin, and Veronica Horan, Ballintubber, Co Mayo, taking part in the parkrun beneath Croagh Patrick in Westport. Photograph: Keith Heneghan

The thousands of people who turn up at parkrun events around the country every week were joined last Saturday morning by hundreds of new runners who had just completed The Irish Times’ Get Running programme.

The first Get Running course brought participants up to running 30 minutes non-stop which meant a 5km run like the weekly parkrun events were within their grasp.

A volunteer-led organisation, parkrun holds free 5km runs every Saturday morning at 9.30am at 10 locations around the country. With its emphasis on community and participation, it was an ideal fit for Get Running and we’re delighted so many people turned up in the spring sunshine to take part in their first 5km run.

"It was a pleasure to hear all the lovely success stories at parkrun on Saturday. You should all be so proud of what you have achieved," said our running coach Mary Jennings from ForgetTheGym.

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“Nothing beats your first 5km. It proves that if you put your mind to something and stick with it, you can achieve it.

“Very quickly you will forget the feeling you had crossing the finish line – write down your memories of the day – it will be lovely to look back over in the future. It’s a massive achievement and I’m so delighted to have been able to help you get there.”

Building on the success of the first Get Running course, we’ve partnered with Mary Jennings again to develop a 10km course which will start in early April.

That will finish in time to have you ready for the Flora Women's Mini Marathon or any of the other many 10k races taking place around the country this summer.