New half marathon to boost local economy

THE North Clare economy will receive a welcome boost this weekend as more than 600 participants take part in the inaugural Run Cliffs of Moher Half Marathon.
The race is expected to generate tens of thousands of euro for businesses in the area, while charities St Vincent De Paul, Special Olympics Ireland and Clare Crusaders will also benefit directly from it. Numerous other charities will benefit from participants’ fundraising.
“We have been working with the Clare Sports Partnership and the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre on the event for about the last 16 months. Also, we have been liaising with the three charities, Clare Crusaders, which is bringing 50 runners and walkers on the day; Special Olympics Ireland, which is bringing 30 and St Vincent De Paul, which also has a group taking part. The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre has five participants and they will be wearing their Vote for the Cliffs in the New 7 Wonders of Nature t-shirts. There is also a group taking part from St Vincent De Paul,” outlined Jo Cawley, race organiser from Feel Good Events.
Although registration for events has been strong, organisers were hoping for a larger entry. A high number of similar events has meant intense competition for participants.
“We have 600 registered participants. We were hoping for 1,000 and while online registration closed on Wednesday, we are still taking entries until late on Friday night. There was an event in Dingle last month and that is in its second year. There are a lot of races in Galway too, so there is a lot of competition this year compared to last year. We feel 600 is a very good start. It is a good foundation, as we are hoping to make this an annual run,” she outlined.
Ms Cawley said she was surprised by the entry.
“We organised a similar event in Kildare last year and 1,500 people took part but given that it has a larger population base close by, the benefit to the local economy would not be as great as I expect it will in North Clare,” she stated.
Planning is already underway for next year’s event.
“We will have a full marathon and a half marathon next September. We are hoping this will be a support to the local community. Places like Doolin have experienced a good number of accommodation bookings. Lahinch too has benefitted but most people are opting to stay in Doolin because we are shuttling people back there after the race. Next year the full marathon will take in Lahinch, Ennistymon, Kilshanny, Doolin, the Cliffs of Moher and Liscannor. We expect a higher number of participants next year and are hoping to bring quite a lot of business to the area for pubs, restaurants and accommodation. As part of the registration pack we have sent out our ‘top five things to do in North Clare’ so we are hoping people will visit the caves, the Burren Centre, the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre and the Aran Islands. That is something we hope to continue every year and we hope this will boost tourism in the region because we believe in North Clare and what it has to offer,” Ms Cawley commented.
“I think a full marathon will be a big draw. From an international perspective I think it will have huge appeal and it really has major international potential. We have only touched the surface this year and haven’t given it as much exposure as we can. It will get a lot bigger over time,” she added.
So far participants have registered from across the country and across the world.
“So far, 30 counties are represented and we have 20 people coming from the United States after visiting the Cliffs earlier in the year and seeing the banner for the race. We also have about 20 from the UK and 30 from Europe. We also have a couple from Australia and New Zealand. We would have thought when we were starting out that the highest number of entries would be from Clare or Limerick or Galway but to date most of the entries have been from Dublin,” Ms Cawley outlined.
Organisers will be taking late entries for the event on Friday at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre between midday and 8pm. People will also be able to register at the Doolin Activity Lodge from 9pm to 11pm on Friday evening.
The half marathon begins at Doolin Pier. Walkers will leave at 8am and runners will leave at 9am.
Organisers are advising motorists that a diversion will be in place on the Coast Road northbound between Lahinch and Doolin on Saturday between 10am and midday.