Greencastle 5 Mile Road Race 2009
On Boxing day 2009 the Greencastle 5 Mile Road Race celebrated its 24th year. It is estimated that over 800 individuals took part on the day – personally I’d believe it – the community centre was packed, and for the main race it was a few minutes before the last runner crossed the start line following the firing of the starters-gun.
Special Event Photography Ltd got the call to attend only 3-days before the event, yet given the time of year, the weather, etc.. we managed to pull a skeleton crew together and headed off to the snow covered Sperrin Hills near Omagh, Northern Ireland (where temperatures hovered between -2C and +0C with a little freezing fog, sleet and snow thrown in for good measure). We have just finished processing, and uploading some 400 images from the event into our Photo Gallery.
On the day there were 3 races – a walk, a wheelchair race, and the main running race. Despite the weather it was clear that everyone enjoyed the day. The races were followed by the award of prizes to the winners of the various races and categories. The end of event raffle was drawn by none other than the the great John Daly (who regardless of the pre-race rumor mill managed to keep his coat on and avoided actually taking part in any of the races) – the star prize was a weekend for two at the K-Club Golf & Spa Resort – 5 Star Hotel in Co. Kildare.
Next year (2010) sees the 25th anniversary of this event which welcomes participants from all over the UK and Ireland and occasionally further afield. Information on the 2010 event will appear of the event website in due course – this can be found at www.greencastle5.com (2009 Results)
One thing is for sure, the 2010, 35th anniversary event is more than likely going to be an even bigger event than 2009.
The benefiting charity for 2009 is the Ulster Cancer Foundation. This charity will also receive a proportion of our online sales arising from the event.
Congratulations to all involved – participants AND organisers.
If you are organising an event during 2010 please contact us – we can probably attend and offer our services FREE.