KEEP ON RUNNING

Some members took place in the recent Wheelworx FASTLANE Half Marathon

The DFB Athletics Club continues apace, despite some setbacks, and looks forward to next year, writes FF/P Padraig ThompsonKEEP ONRunning

The last few months have been difficult for the Athletics Club but despite the restrictions we have been able to organise a few very worthwhile events that I am pleased to say were a great success. In May, we held our fundraising 5km run for little Sienna Clare, the daughter of FF/P Ciaran Clare of B Watch in No.9. Sienna needed to raise more than €120,000 to go for a life-altering surgery in St Louis in the US, with months of recovery ahead on her return to Ireland, and we were delighted to help out. Everybody who signed up could do the run in their own time over the course of the weekend of 15 – 16 May and send their results in to us, and this virtual event ensured that everybody remained safe and followed health and safety guidelines. Together, the club raised more than €5,500 to contribute towards the fund, and with many other DFB personnel getting involved in fundraising challenges, the target is going to be met.

COACHING

Over the last few months, some of the DFB Athletics coaches have been completing their Level 1 Coaching Badges with the Athletics Association of Ireland, with the plan being that they will then proceed to Level 2 Coaching, with more

new coaches beginning Level 1. The Athletics Club is paying for all of the coaching courses through its membership fees, which we are very grateful for.

MARATHON

The major event we were all looking forward to this year was the New York City Marathon 50th Anniversary Race, held on November 7, when we had planned to have 24 DFB members running through the Five Boroughs of NYC, and a support team of 15 non-runners joining us. As it coincided with the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we had hoped to meet up with our colleagues in the FDNY for some miles (they still use the imperial system!)

Unfortunately, we missed out by a single day, as the borders of the US remained closed until November 8, meaning we couldn’t fly over and take part, which was hugely disappointing, but unavoidable given the circumstances. The plan now is to attend next year, and we will be advertising for interested bodies soon, so keep an eye on the Athletics Club notifications.

EVENT

On 11 September itself, we did manage to have a great event to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US. With all government guidelines adhered to and with social distancing in place, we had 48 participants take on three various distances (10km, 22km and 32km) around the beautiful town of Dun Laoghaire. It was amazing to witness, and more importantly, it was great to meet so many people I had only gotten to know by name during lockdown and our virtual events. All participants received our very popular 9/11 20th Anniversary Technical Tee.

All our members will also be receiving their very own lightweight running vest, personalised with the DFB Athletics logo, and our environmentally friendly reusable 750ml DFB Athletics Water Bottles as a thank you for their support in setting up the club.

“IT WAS GREAT TO MEET SO MANY PEOPLE I HAD ONLY GOTTEN TO KNOW BY NAME DURING LOCKDOWN AND OUR VIRTUAL EVENTS”

2022

We have some plans that we will be finalising over the next few weeks, and already we are looking towards the Half Marathon in Paris on March 6, and are hoping to bring a good team to that. Of course, we have to be careful with the dates, as we don’t want to impede on plans for the World Fire Games in April. We also plan to have a team participating in the Manchester Marathon in April of next year, while before that we aim to have numbers attend the Inner-City Running Clubs Night Run on March 4, and are hoping to have a good show of members participate and show their support for the new running club in the city.

Meanwhile, we are also trying to find a new home for the club next year, so keep an ear out for news of a new clubhouse.

Finally, I have to say that the club has been very lucky and has had the continued support of the committee and members of the Dublin Fire Brigade Sports and Social Club. We are very grateful for what they have done for our young club, and we are looking forward to working hand in hand with the DFBSSC as we prepare for the major events of next year, which will include the aforementioned World Fire Games in Lisbon at the end of April.

We have a limited supply of new training tops available

The DFB Athletics water bottles (and hot drink tumblers) The 9/11 Challenge Tees