IWA Staff Completes the 30th Dublin City Marathon

For the third consecutive year, IWA staff completed the 26.2 mile Dublin City Marathon, raising much needed funds for services and equipment. This year was the 30th anniversary of the race with the largest ever field of 12,500 runners.

The weather was near perfect for marathon running with unusually warm and dry conditions for the end of October. This year’s IWA marathon team of family and staff included Natasha Spremo from the Assisted Living Office, Karen Cronin from the Carmel Fallon Holiday Centre in Clontarf, Martin Kelly from IWA’s Training Department, John O’Grady from IWA Finance Department, Jean Coleman from Cuisle Holiday Centre, Alan Grimes from IWA IT Department and Chris Hoey from IWA’s Dublin North East Region.

Of the seven staff members, five were running the marathon for the first time and were entering the unknown. Before the start of the race, the talk among the team was of nerves about the run, of sleepless nights and of how to get through the infamous and mythical marathon “wall”.

At the end of the race, each member of the team achieved their personal objective of finishing, with the “wall” successfully negotiated. Each participant had the Marathon medal placed around their neck and gratefully and deservedly received their “I ran the Dublin Marathon” tee-shirt – experiences that will long stay in the memory.

The post race talk between team members was of congratulations, of pride and of relief at having crossed the finish line. There was also a feeling that all the lonely hours of training at night or during the early morning hours when others were still sleeping was worth it for the feeling of having completed the 26.2 mile of the marathon run. The pain in the legs, the tiredness of the muscles and the fatigue of the body were forgotten and the collective minds turned to next year’s race and doing it all again.

If you would like to run on behalf of IWA in next years marathon, please call 01 818 6469 or email: fund@iwa.ie