Mealagh Valley race in aid of Cystic Fibrosis fund...

One of the races coming up next weekend is the Mealagh Valley 10 mile near Bantry in west Cork.

 Mars O'Connell and Geraldine O'Sullivan with a €6,145 cheque for Cystic Fibrosis

One of the main people behind the organising of this race is Geraldine O'Sullivan of Bantry AC. Geraldine started running back in 2007 when she decided to take part in the Bay Run Half-Marathon between Glengarriff and Bantry and raised €6,145 in the process. Those early funds went towards an adult unit for people with Cystic Fibrosis called Build4Life at the CUH in Cork City.

Fast forward to the present and Geraldine has numerous half and full Marathons under her belt and has now raised  €16,000 since she started running this time 5 years ago. As she said in her own words in a recent e-mail...."When I started, people thought it would be the death of me!!!  In fact it's been wonderful as I have seen corners of Ireland I would never have seen and made great friends."

As a resident of the Mealagh Valley, Geraldine was the driving force behind setting up the Mealagh Valley 10 mile road race. It was never designed to be another 'Ballycotton 10' but just a unique race in west Cork that might help raise some funds for Build4life4kids, a Cystic Fibrosis fundraising group aiming to raise €2 million to provide a specialised kids unit within CUH.

The Mealagh Valley 10 mile is a hilly and challenging 10 mile course set in a quiet little corner of scenic west Cork. You're not going to set any personal best times there but it's a great race all the same.  If you can, you might consider supporting this event next Sunday. Entry details in an earlier post. Also a reminder that for anyone considering doing the Bay Run Half-Marathon in May.....entry in the Mealagh Valley race will entitle you to a 20% discount. Race preview on Friday.