03/12/2016
This note is to say its over…..
Back in July 2012 8 lads set around a table and talked about a half marathon. What brought us there were many many conversations over training runs. You know it all to well yourself, you run and you chat about work you chat about life you chat about races. What we did is take this chat and distill it into what we felt a good race was. In order for us to feel proud it needed to have certain components. Affordability, Organisation, Atmosphere, Quality, Accessibility and Professionalism were all high on our original list. Trying to do all this while keeping it affordable was hard but we adapted and looked for sponsors to help. We can honestly say that over the course of organizing 5 races we always reverted to those principals when making decisions.
We are thankful. We would like to thank our wives and families for all their assistance during the last five years. We would like to thank all the sponsors who believed in the event. We would like to thank the people of Clonoun and Athlone for their patience and support. Aloysius College for their facilities year after year. Volunteers are the bedrock of any event and we had the best. They rocked in registration, at the finish line, on water tables, guiding you to your car parking spot and making sure you got a beer or a coke when you finally crossed the finish line.
The team has had so many highs from this race. We would like to thank all of you for the messages of support and praise that you gave us. Believe us when we tell you that on that finish line we were as happy as all of you. Collectively, as a team we have finished marathons, Ironman triathlons and everything in between but the sense of satisfaction from your enjoyment is right up there with crossing the finish line on our own achievements.
This race was special because it was your race as much as ours. Your opinion mattered and was factored into the decision making of the race. Thank you for having faith in our race and for supporting us from the first race to the last. You were awesome and you have helped make memories for us that will not be forgotten.
Why finish I hear you ask.? As a group, we are returning from where we came. Some are golfing, many are doing Ironman Barcelona, others are running marathons and with all our commitments something has to give.
Maybe we will be back, maybe we wont but if you see the “Flatline” you will know that’s it be affordable, well organized and fair.
“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.”
