Women and girls urged to get involved in 2026 Mini-Marathon

Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council Cllr Sean Carey launched the 2026 Mayo.ie Western People Women’s Mini-Marathon last Friday afternoon in front of a packed hall at St Mary’s Secondary School in Ballina.

The Mini-Marathon, which takes place in Ballina on Sunday, May 3, is now the biggest women's-only event in the West of Ireland. It is co-organised by principal partners Mayo Sports Partnership, the Western People and Mayo.ie with the assistance of local athletic clubs, community organisations, volunteers and Ballina Municipal District Council.

Former student of St Mary’s Laurita Blewitt was MC for the event with specials guests encouraging everyone, especially the students present, to get involved, whether through participation or volunteering. 

Western People’s Nicola Lawrence welcomed everyone to the event with Mayo Sports Partnership chairperson Lyndon Jones, Ballina Municipal District Leas Cathaoirleach Cllr Annie May Reape and Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council Cllr Sean Carey all speaking about the Mini-Marathon, which is entering its 17th year. 

The enthusiasm from all the speakers was palpable as they encouraged women, especially teenage girls, to get involved, noting that the Mini-Marathon is a perfect opportunity to give sport a go.

There are more programmes now than ever designed with women and girls in mind and this was very much to the front of the event.

Former Ireland international rugby player and Donegal footballer, Nora Stapleton, who is Women in Sport Lead with Sport Ireland, spoke about the new movement Her Moves. This initiative is to help encourage girls to be more active and create more visibility around girls and women in sport.

“Her Moves is all about supporting and helping teenage girls find a sport that they love and that they want to take part in," she told the students in attendance. "It is about working with the adults in the girls' lives to help to navigate the challenges and barriers that exist – your teachers, your coaches, your parents. For teachers it is about how the girls in this school have full opportunity to take part in a whole range of sports.

“For the girls themselves it is about reframing what sporty might mean in your eyes. When we talk to girls and ask them what does sporty mean,  a lot of them say it is the girls that are the best on the team or the girls who can run the fastest. But we say no, Sporty is you.

“Her Moves are trying to reframe all of that and trying to lift the barriers that might exist that might hold girls back from reaching their full potential in sport.” 

Pauline Moran returned to running later in life. After getting married and starting a family, she fell into running after accidentally running the Great Western Greenway event and done well. She was approached by Mayo Athletics Club and has gone on to represent Mayo and Ireland, winning a number of titles and holds a number of national records and also won the Western People Athlete of the Year twice in 2018 and 2023.

Pauline said: “It is never too late. The hardest thing is getting your foot out the door and making up your mind.” 

Mayo Sports Development Officer Deirdre Donnelly said the Mini-Marathon is a great way of getting women and girls out and moving.

“The Mini-Marathon is going since 2010. We have women, teenage girls and primary school children involved in it. It is a great way of getting people out, getting them moving in the lead up to the event – we like to get some of our teenage girls involved in running programmes in the lead up to it.” 

Former Mayo footballer and All Star Cora Staunton spoke about sport being “a place where you could be yourself”. Cora found sport to be her safe place and encourages everyone to be themselves.

“I think it was just a love and a passion for it. It was a place I always felt safe and I always tell young people today it is really important, it is a place were you can be yourself. I think in today’s society and even years ago, you're expected to be someone maybe you don’t want to be. On the Gaelic football pitch, in particular, was a place I could always just be me - I didn’t have to be anyone different.” 

As part of the event, Australian Olympian Sinead Diver, who hails from Belmullet, and who has the course record of 35:27 for the mini marathon in 2015 was interviewed by Western People Sports Editor Anthony Hennigan. Sinead gave a deep insight in to how someone could just take up running at any stage and how it gave her great confidence in dealing with everyday life.  

There was a palpable energy within the room about promoting women’s sport and the need to continue working to get more women involved from participation to coaching to being seen on television.

There was also a discussion around education and dispelling stigmas around talking about periods and the affect they have on women's participation in sport. Another important topic is wearing the correct sports wear and that it should be spoken about without embarrassment.

Deirdre Donnelly summed it up perfectly when she urged women and girls to “give it a go – it doesn’t have to be perfect".

More than 2,000 women and girls took part in the 2025 event in Castlebar, along with almost 800 national school students who participated in the Mini Mini event. Fifteen-year-old Freya Renton, who was a winner at the recent Western People Mayo Sports Stars Awards, made history in the 2025 event by becoming the youngest ever winner against an experienced field which included a number of previous winners. Freya’s twin sister Holly finished in fourth place.

The early bird registration for this year’s West of Ireland Women's Mini-Marathon is now open and you can register for the event at www.westofirelandwomensminimarathon.com.