6,637 athletes of all ages and standards took to the streets this Sunday May 1st for the Great Limerick Run in association with the Irish Times where an estimated 20,000 spectators turned out to cheer on friends, family and visitors to Limerick along the route.
While everyone who took part was a winner in their own right, one lucky participant had extra reason to smile when all was said and done. Tara Madigan, (race number 11035) who took part in the half marathon was the lucky finisher drawn out to win a brand new Volkswagen Polo kindly provided by Frank Hogan Motors Limerick & Volkswagen Ireland. The draw was open to all participants irrelevant of finishing position and took place at The Locke Bar along with the prize presentation for the Marathon, Half Marathon & 6 mile races.
Tara is from Crusheen, Co Clare and is also a member of the renowned Clare Crusaders Charity Group which was formed in 2005 to help Children with Special Needs in areas such as Cerebral Palsy, Autism, and Down Syndrome. Tara’s own son Darragh (7) has an autistic spectrum disorder and she originally got into running through her involvement with the Clare Crusaders.
Describing finding out the news on Sunday night, Tara explained “I’m just totally shocked but obviously delighted. I’ve never won anything before and to be honest I thought someone was having me on when I got the email on Sunday night. It wasn’t until actually spoke on the phone to Ron Hogan from Frank Hogans and Martin from the race organisers that I knew it was for real and I had won the car. I think my new lucky number will have to be 11,035 after this. This was my second ever half marathon and I’m hoping to maybe try a full marathon later in the year along with friends from the Clare Crusaders. ”
The Great Limerick Run participant’s prize of the brand new Volkswagen Polo was made possible by the kind sponsorship of Frank Hogan Motors Limerick & Volkswagen Ireland.
