On the go: 83-year-old Maureen to compete in her 14th Women’s Mini Marathon today
THERE IS a lower age limit of 14 years for participants in today’s Flora Women’s Mini Marathon. But, asMaureen Armstrong demonstrates, there is no such thing as an upper limit.
The 83-year-old Thurles woman will be limbering up with 40,515 other women, to take part her 14th mini marathon around Dublin city.
A grandmother 21 times over, she is the oldest-ever participant in the 10km race.
“I feel as happy as Larry,” she said. “I feel great. I’ve been up since eight o’clock this morning watering my plants”.
She walks the race every year and after completing last year’s race she told her daughter that she would be able to turn around and do it all again.
But she won’t have it all her own way. She will face competition from an 82-year-old woman from France, an 80-year-old from Wicklow and several septuagenarians.
The event is expected to raise more than €10 million for charities this year. Darina Ní Chuinneagain-Donnelly will be doing the race for her charity the Baby Max – Wings of Love fund which she set up after the death of her son to buy vital medical equipment for paediatric units around the country.
Writer and former Fair City actor Claudia Carroll is running the race for the Save St Luke’s Cancer Hospital Campaign after her friend’s father was treated there.
The 26th Women’s Mini Marathon starts at 3pm on Fitzwilliam Square. It will continue along Merrion Road to St Vincent’s Hospital, onto Belfield, back on the Stillorgan dual carriageway and will end on St Stephen’s Green, with the winner expected at about 3.30 pm.
Ms Armstrong expects to hit the finish line about 1½ hours later – if, she jokes, her daughter Martina can keep up with her.
The recently revived Cork City Marathon gets underway this morning, with a four-fold increase in entrants on last year, writes Olivia Kelleher.
A field of 8,000 runners are expected for the 26-mile race, which was revived last year after a 21-year break.
The race, which had just 2,000 competitors in 2007, begins at 9am.
