Marathonkids Ireland 2021 is Starting September 20th with over 12,000 Students Across Ireland

The launch of the Marathonkids Ireland 2021 Programme took place on Wednesday, September 8th at Morton Stadium in Santry. Over 12,500 students from the administrative areas of Fingal County Council, Dublin City Sport and Wellbeing Partnership, South Dublin County Council, Galway County Council and areas throughout the Gaeltacht representing over 200 schools have enrolled for the 2021 programme.

Marathonkids Ireland (http://marathonkidsireland.ie) is an 8-week programme for 5th-6th class students in Ireland. The programme will entail daily short runs, physical & mental health education, nutrition and exercise. The programme aims at promoting physical activity among students and fighting child obesity. Each Student will record daily updates in their physical or digital workbooks. The Topics tie in to the SPHE module of the student’s curriculum. 

Marathonkids ambassador 2-time European Champion and Olympian David Gillick was joined among others by Mayor of Fingal Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh, Fingal Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly,  Mayor of South Dublin Cllr Peter Kavanagh and Grace Winters, EMEA Shared Services Director at Abbott. Paul Moran, chairman of KBC Dublin Marathon and proud supporters of Marathonkids Ireland was also in attendance.

There will be over 3,000 students from 24 schools in Fingal participating in this year’s programme. Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh, who is a primary school teacher herself, said “The MarathonKids programme has been a tremendous success since its launch in 2014. The students look forward to it every year and especially get excited about doing their final mile in Morton stadium. Hopefully next year we can once again bring schools together and have the event the students deserve after their 8-weeks of training”.

Chief Executive of Fingal AnnMarie Farrelly said “I am delighted to see the continued enthusiasm for this fantastic Marathonkids Programme which encourages a healthy active lifestyle among school children in Fingal”

David Gillick stated “The Marathonkids Ireland programme is going from strength to strength and has seen significant growth in the last 6 years. Over 40,000 students and 300 schools across Ireland have completed the programme to date. In 2021 we will see the Marathonkids participation and completion surpass 50,000 students since launch”.

The programme officially launches in the schools on 20th of September 2021