Among the participants of this years Flora Women's mini marathon was eighty three year old Maureen Armstrong who briskly walked the marathon alongside with her daughter Martina Heffernan at her side. "It was brilliant. It was great all together and I'm delighted to be the oldest one", she said after she completed the marathon in ninety minutes.
"I enjoyed every bit of it, it was great fun today" she said on Monday, where she was given a hero's welcome by a group of supporters from Thurles who came up for the day to cheer her on. It was the 14th time that Maureen, from Thurles, Tipperary, has taken part in the marathon. The determined pensioner has vowed it won't be her last. "I'll keep going as long as I can. I'm ever-ready; I'm not a bit tired".
Over 40,000 women and thousands of spectators took to the streets of Dublin in preparation for the 25th Dublin Flora Woman's Mini Marathon 2008. Contestants set off at 3.00pm from Fitzwilliam Square to the sound of immense cheering and applause as they embarked on a 10k race throughout the city of Dublin. The competition proved tight among the top contenders in this years race as the top seven elite athletes managed to cross the finish line within just three minutes of each other.
American based Irish runner Marie Davenport crossed the line at St.Stephen's Green in a respectable time of 33:13. On deciding whether to run the Cork City Marathon of the Mini Marathon Ms.Davenport said, "The race just never fitted into my competition schedule before but I knew all about it and all the great names who have won it so this is fantastic." Rosemary Ryan from Limerick was the first Irish woman to cross the line in a time of 33:38 narrowly escaping Pauline Curley who completed the course in a time of 34:39.
Annette Kealey from Dublin succeeded in winning the over 35's category in a time of 37 minutes 44 seconds beating Anne Curley of Dublin by just under 39 seconds. Ms.Kealey commenting on Anne Curley performance said,"Pauline is such an amazing competitor, we've been battling it out for years so I'm really delighted to take her scalp. I had just two goals this year, to make the World Cross Country team, which I scraped into and to win this race, so I am absolutely thrilled."
Orla Gormley from Dublin completed the 10k race in a time of 39:03 winning the over 40's category with Denise Ryan and Grainne Butler finishing within one minute of the race leader. Susan Zinay triumphed in finishing the over 45's category in a time of 39:46 proving to be a force to be reckoned with among the Irish elite athletes. Included in this year's mini marathon was an increased participation from visually impaired athletes with Catherine Walsh winning this category in a time of 51:20 managing to fend off the threat of Mary Fahy by a margin of 59 minutes 16 seconds.
The Mini Marathon saw many different charities being represented by women of all ages supporting the likes of The Irish Heart Foundation, Oxfam and Barnardos. There were hundreds of different charities who were sponsored by female athletes and collectively they managed to raise in excess of 15 million Euro with the help of many kind donations from competitors.
Overall it was a great day for all women involved and although the entries were strictly for woman only, there were a few questionable participants who did not adhere to the gender rule. With over 15 million Euro raised for charity, the event was a big success and hopes to see even greater participation in years to come.
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