Mini-marathon registration date looms
A group of children from Culleens NS who have registered for the Mini-Mini event.
The last chance to register and receive your Mayo.ie Western People West of Ireland Women’s Mini-Marathon t-shirts and race numbers in advance by post is today, Tuesday, April 23, at 4pm.
Registration will remain open after that date, but anyone registering will need to pick up their t-shirt and race number in Ballina prior to the event. If you want to get a t-shirt you will need to register as soon as possible as supplies are starting to run low.
If you have already registered and are awaiting your t-shirt, posting has started, so sit tight, they are on their way.
With just under two weeks to go to the Mayo.ie Western People West of Ireland Women’s Mini-Marathon in Ballina on Bank Holiday Sunday, May 5, final preparations by the numerous partners are well underway – and so too is the training.
The action kicks off at noon at the Market Square, and super sprinters, slow strollers, and everyone in between, are all welcome to take part in the largest women’s sporting event in the West of Ireland. The aim is to encourage participation and have lots of fun.
Organised by Mayo Sports Partnership in conjunction with Mayo.ie and the Western People, the West of Ireland Women’s Mini-Marathon celebrates 15 years in 2024.
To celebrate, the big event, the organisers have teamed up with Intersport Elverys to offer 15 people who register before April 23 at 4pm the chance to win one of 15 Elverys gift cards worth €50.
A whistle-stop tour of some local primary schools has also seen a surge in entries for the popular, noisy and exciting Mini Mini element of the event.
The very popular Mini-Mini has been a part of the Mini-Marathon for many years and it is a fun run in every sense of the phrase. Inclusion and participation are the cornerstones of the event.
More than 1,000 children participated in the Mini-Mini last year and children of all abilities are welcome and encouraged to take part in the 2km run, which will run alongside the main event at 12:05pm, just after the 10k start, on the main streets of the town. There is significant interest so far and six primary schools have already registered: Breaffy NS, St. Joseph’s Killala, Culleens NS, Gael Scoil na gCeithre Maol, Attymass NS and Crossmolina NS. Well done to the staff for getting in first to assure their pupils of their unique 2024 t-shirts.
The organisers are also visiting lots of secondary schools in the county and they hope to once again use the West of Ireland Women’s Mini-Marathon to positively address the drop-off rate in sport amongst teenage girls – something that is far, far higher than it is for their male counterparts.
Secondary school girls aged 12-17 can participate and get a t-shirt for just €10. Events like the Mayo.ie Western People Women’s Mini Marathon simply would not be possible without the support of volunteers from within the community, and the Ballina community is rarely found wanting.
