There was delight for three charities on Monday night when the North West 10k cheque presentations were made in the Mount Errigal. An overall figure of €27,171 was raised and was shared equally between St. Bernadette’s Special School Letterkenny, Multiple Sclerosis Donegal Branch and the Letterkenny Community Development Project. It was the 26th staging of the North West 10k and the overall figure since the charity event started in 1997 has now passed the €930,000 mark. Each charity received a cheque for €9,057 and spokespersons for the three beneficiaries expressed their delight at getting a financial boost that will help them deliver on live initiatives to enhance the services they provide.
North West 10k Chairperson Neil Martin thanked the three charities for their fundraising efforts which gives each of them a welcome financial boost in challenging economic times. The new Mayor of Letterkenny, Mr. Kevin Bradley congratulated the three charities on their efforts and acknowledged the work of the North West 10k Committee in providing the platform for the fundraising to be another success for another year.
As well as the actual event on the May Bank Holiday Monday the charities embarked on a number of additional fundraisers to boost their income from the 2023 North West 10k. “I would like to thank the charities for the work they put in over the two months from the launch on March 6th to the Bank Holiday Monday when the 10k took place in Letterkenny. As well the money that each of you has raised there is also the benefits of the publicity that being involved with the North West 10k brings to every charity that has been involved with us over the last 26 years. Hopefully that awareness of the good work that you are all doing will open other doors in terms of funding or other supports for the services that you provide” Mr Martin said.
The 10k Chairperson also expressed satisfaction with the numbers that registered to run and walk the charity event. “Look it’s great to be up around the 900 mark in terms of entries received and around 830 completed the actual 10k. There are so many races of varying lengths from 5ks to marathons and adventure races that means we can only have a certain slice of the cake. It’s not the same as years ago when North West 10k was one of the few races being run in the whole year in Donegal. Nowadays there are also other charity events happening around the same time as the 10k.”
After some light rain in the early morning on Bank Holiday Monday, May 1st dried up and the conditions were near perfect when the runners and walkers were sent on their way by special guest Danny McDaid. It was a hugely successful event, well organised with the safety of the participants the priority for the 10k committee. A new name was added to the list of overall winners as City of Derry Spartans club member John Paul Williamson crossed the line first in Letterkenny. Williamson’s time was 32 minutes and 48 seconds. There was also a new name added to the list of female winners as Letterkenny AC’s Noreen Scanlan took the top honour and finished 11th overall clocking 35.12 for the 10k.
Among those taking part were Falcarragh man Ronnie Finnegan who just 15 months previously had a kidney transplant. Mary Martin, wife of North West 10k Chairperson Neil has taken part in every North West 10k since it started in 1997. So it was the Glenfin woman’s 26th time to complete the event. The Bishop of Raphoe Alan McGuickan took time out from his pastoral duties to run the 10k in support of the three charities.
And it was a significant day for Danny McDaid as the Special Guest who fired the starting gun to get the runners and walkers on their way. The two time Irish Olympian also presented the prizes to the winners afterwards. With such a big event taking place in Letterkenny there was inevitable some traffic disruption. At Monday night’s cheque presentations Neil Martin thanked the public for their cooperation with the Gardai and the marshalls.
“There was always going to be some traffic congestion at junctions and along the route. Sergeant Eunan Walsh and his Garda colleagues did a very good job along with our stewards in delivering on the traffic management plan. Most of all the committee appreciates the cooperation of the motorists. People know that it is a charity event with the proceeds going to good causes in Donegal. The safety of everyone taking part in the North West 10k is foremost in the committee’s minds and I am very happy with the team effort that ensured that we had another community event without incident and was enjoyed by those who participated. It was lovely to see again the social aspect to the 10k during the walk and run and then afterwards at the Community Centre” Mr Martin said.
Letterkenny AC member Marty Gormley was thanked for his role as the MC on the day. While Williamson and Scanlan were most deserving winners their respective winning times were well off the course records set by Noel Berkeley of 29.14 in 1998 and Maria McCambridge’s 32.34 which stands since 2005. “I would like to thank everyone who walked or ran and also everyone who helped out in any way including the marshalls, the Red Cross and the Letterkenny Community Centre. Our five sponsors are absolutely crucial to us being able to give the charities as much money as possible. I want to say a special thanks to Donegal Daily, Brian McCormick Intersport, the Mount Errigal Hotel, Century Cinemas Complex and the Value Centre for their support.”
Mr Martin also acknowledged the work of his own committee from the start of 2023 and especially in the eight weeks lead-in to the 26th North West 10k. “I’ve said it before and am doing so again here this evening the success of the North West 10k is down to all the committees past and present over the past 26 years who have given so much of their voluntary time to help 40 charities raise an overall total of now just over €930,000” Mr Martin said.
Representatives of each of the three charities expressed their delight at first of all being selected to be beneficiaries from the 2023 North West 10k. John Haran, principal of St. Bernadette’s Special School Letterkenny, outlined that the school plans to use the funds to purchase a wheelchair-accessible bus for pupils with disabilities to go on trips, group outings and attend work experience. Margaret Toner of the Letterkenny CDP said the funds their charity receives will be used for funding programmes in the community, such as the new IT hub and IT skills courses. Tracey McKnight of the MS Donegal Branch, which supports around 330 people, said that money raised will go towards physiotherapy, yoga, days out and direct assistance for people with MS in Donegal.
