The Liberties runners lace up for Shannon’s Hopeline

Members of The Liberties Running Club are gearing up for a huge charity 5K, after their efforts in the Dublin Marathon.

Tickets for the upcoming 5K in, aid of Shannon’s Hopeline, have since sold out, but the event still has a lot to offer for attendees, with chart-topping Dublin DJ, Jazzy performing at the event which takes place on the 3rd of November.

As founding member David Shanahan told The Liberty last year: “The club started when myself, Jenny [Jones] and Lisa [Kelleher] ran the marathon last year, and people were messaging our own Instagram pages saying they’d love to be able to get out and get moving, and be able to do a marathon, or some sort of running.”

As the club grows, it has embraced charitable causes.

“Tickets for the event were sold online. It’s a charity event so any money that’s raised goes straight to Shannon’s Hopeline. A lot of businesses in the local area got behind us to fund the race so that as much money can go towards Shannon’s Hopeline,” Shanahan saids.

In an effort to make the club more inclusive for all, the club have also recently raised funds to buy five running pushchairs for members with children with special needs “so that they can then come to runs, races and events – because nobody deserves to miss out on The Liberties Running Club, it should be inclusive for everybody.,” Shanahan said.

A group of 30 ‘Libertines’ represented the club by taking part in the iconic Dublin Marathon on Sunday, October 27^th.

That represents fast growth for the club. “On the first night we had 15 show up, and since then it’s gone from strength to strength,” Shanahan said.

“Some would have struggled to do 3km when they first joined with us, are now going to take on this years Dublin Marathon.”

The club is free for members of all ages, and members who ran in the marathon got bespoke commemorative running t-shirts. “For a lot of the members it’s their first marathon, and they deserve the recognition, so we went out and bought them t-shirts.”

“Whoever was doing the marathon would stay on for an extra period of time after our club runs, along with runs on a Saturday morning,” Jones said. “We’d get everyone into training blocks with a pace that suits them, and they’re always paired with someone, so nobody is left behind.”