A special remembrance run for the victims and survivors of the Boston Marathon is taking place in Rathcormac this Saturday, April 27th. It’s being organised by Shelly McAteer of Max Fitness and Sports Therapy.

Max Runners was started in Rathcormac nearly two months ago as a community initiative to get people outdoors and running. “The response was amazing” Shelly says. “People who had never run a day in their lives took up the challenge to make a change to their lifestyle and fitness. We meet every Saturday at 12 o’clock and in just two short months some of our novice runners have come from nothing, to running their first 5km races and are now aiming for their first 10km!”

Shelly explains how the idea for the special remembrance run came about. “When the events of the Boston Marathon unfolded last week, like everyone, we were in shock. What really hit me was the fact that the first explosion occurred when runners were crossing the line after four hours, meaning that if any of us had been running, we could very well have been caught up in the middle of it. Marathons are like the Holy Grail for runners and the fact that people could target such completely innocent athletes and spectators is just sickening,” she says.

STRENGTH IN UNITY

She therefore decided to ask their runners about using their usual group run this Saturday, April 27th as a special event to remember the victims and survivors. “Everyone was more than happy to take part,” Shelly reports. She then contacted Team Thomas fitness centre in Watergrasshill, XcelR8 in Glanmire, Watergrasshill Running Club and a local running group in Ballyhooly and all of them readily agreed to join in the run.

“The idea behind it is that, as clubs, we should normally be competing against each other on the race track, but in an event like this we choose to stand together and run side-by-side to show a united front against the mindless violence which tainted the Boston Marathon,” Shelly points out, saying “We may not be able to change anything that has happened but we can, in our own way, show publicly through the universal language of running, that we are against these events and show our support for the victims, the injured and all their families.”

The run will get underway at noon from Max Fitness and Sports Therapy, located on the Main Street in Rathcormac beside Rathcormac Cycles. The route is approximately 5km and it’s all on footpaths and country roads, so safety should not be an issue. Yellow and blue ribbons will be provided for participants to wear on the day as they were the colours of the Boston Marathon. Refreshments will be provided in Max Fitness afterwards.

“I’d like to stress that it’s not a race, it’s simply a large group run for local clubs. We welcome anyone who would like to join us to run, jog or simply walk,” Shelly said.