Running is on the up

Dave Hooper from Raheny Shamrock Running club talks to Northside People about more people getting involved in running over the last couple of years.

Dave has been involved in running from an early age “the club was set up in 1958 and my whole family were members and I was always as part of the club”  Dave got more involved in supporting the club over the last few years due to injury “I ran for years and I was always interested in athletics by studying marathon runners and sprinters.”  Dave is delighted that Raheny Shamrocks running club has grown since it began “In 1998 we had one hundred members and we have over six hundred members now.”  Dave is looking forward for races returning over the next couple of months “The big race that we have is coming up in January we have other races happening such as the battle of Clontarf which is a ten-mile race takes place around Easter. We have a couple of series throughout the year the Lord Mayor series is a big race for their members.”  Raheny Shamrocks running club are always believe in equality and were behind getting more women involved in sport “Athletics Association invited all the clubs to set up fit for life in 2006 and since then it has grown to this day. This programme has been a great way of getting more women involved in sport.”  Dave loves to see women getting out for a run “Most of our followers on Facebook are female and I know a few girls have performed to big levels in the club by getting to national finals and winning national titles.”  There is a big level of coaching that goes on at Raheny Shamrocks running club “Git Cooper and Larry Reilly have a big influence in the club and we have a lot of juvenile coaches that gives the juvenile’s a lot of support and encouragement.”  After a lot of uncertainty Raheny Shamrocks running club are delighted to participate in races again “we can have two hundred people compete at racessice June which has been excellent for the members.”  After a few busy months Dave is looking forward to a short break before the Winter series begins “We have 2 weeks left of races then we will take a break.”  Dave and all the volunteers at Raheny Shamrocks running club have big plans to develop their facilities “We are in the process of our new clubhouse which set up shortly, we also want to continue to grow membership and keep contact with all the schools around the country”  Raheny Shamrocks running club try to keep active online to put the word out there about running “yes we keep active on all social media channels we are miles ahead of any other club when it comes to social media.”

https://dublinpeople.com/news/northsideeast/articles/2021/09/23/raheny-running-is-on-the-up/