Jacqui McCormack
THANK YOU… eight letters that mean so much but still are not big enough to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who played a part in making the Roscommon Community Challenge 2026 such an enormous success.
We were beyond blessed with the weather and delighted to meet the 230 participants that turned up to take part. It would be impossible to run an event like this without community involvement and ‘thank you’ seems so little to say to so many who helped last Friday night (and indeed each year) to make this a true community occasion.
Firstly, a huge thank you to Noel Feeley, CEO of Roscommon Sports Partnership, and to his staff – David Brady, Atilia Tavares, Olimpia Mihalcea and Daire Feeley – who took a group of 90 people in the first week of January and over eight weeks of dedicated training helped them reach their 5k or 8k target.
A special word of thanks to Martin Hannon, also from Roscommon Sports Partnership, for his expertise and guidance and most of all his patience on all our communication channels and online registration. Thank you to all the staff in the office who worked on this project behind the scenes. Nothing is ever a bother for them and the success of this event is due to their dedication and professionalism.
Thank you to our ‘tea team’ without whom we would not have those lovely refreshments to return to. Under the guidance of Mrs Carr, Patricia, Grant, Sophie Monica McKenzie, Tamzin Jane, Fiona, Rita, Patricia and Martina kept the kettles boiling and I am eternally grateful to all.
Thank you to everyone who dropped in refreshments on the evening. Caroline, Una and Sinead on registrations, thank you for your support and assistance.
A multitude of gratitude to Kathryn Dennigan for your hard work and patience behind the scenes. I deeply appreciate all your effort. DJ Ash (Galway), you are a mighty DJ, thank you for keeping us entertained. Liam Hannon (personal trainer and group instructor), thank you for your lovely warm-up prior to the start.
Roscommon Harriers are a wonderful club, and I appreciate your help with timing and marshalling. Indeed those who took on our training programmes would be warmly welcomed at Harriers training which takes place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Thank you to Mary and Paula on the water stop for helping to keep everyone hydrated.
Roscommon Community Sports Park is a fabulous and unique place and we are grateful to the committee for the use of the facility. We were delighted to be able to turn on the lights on their new basketball court to give the public an opportunity to get a glimpse of their wonderful new facility, a huge addition to sport in Roscommon.
Thanks to Sergeant Michael Walsh and his team from Roscommon Garda Station for helping us keep everyone safe. Thank you to the local media – Ian Cooney (Roscommon Herald), Paul Healy (Roscommon People), Joe O’Brien and Willie Hegarty – for their coverage. Particular thanks to Willie for his lovely words of encouragement.
Thanks also to our young sporting stars from Roscommon, Diarmuid Murtagh and Olivia Costello, for their kind words and support. Thank you to Eabha Una and Olimpia for sharing their thoughts with us also. Thank you to Senator Gareth Scahill, Maria Walsh MEP and Cllr Ruth Conboy for taking time out of their schedule to visit us at the sports park and share words of encouragement.
Community events would not be possible but for the support of local businesses. I am fully aware that it is not easy to support everything and I am grateful to the following businesses who came on board this year: Regan’s Gastro Pub, Roscommon; Shane Hynes, Hynes Garage Ltd, Carnmore, Co Galway; Duffy’s SuperValu, Ballaghadereen, Co Roscommon; Cloverhill Renewables; Roscommon Credit Union; Roscommon Leisure Centre; Hynes’ Pharmacy; McNulty Furniture; P Burke Sherry Fitzgerald; Harmac Medical; Everun Ireland Ltd, Ballymoe; John O’Rourke/All Creatures Veterinary, Roscommon; Patrick Lynch, Dental Design Studio Ltd, Roscommon; Albert Looby/AOL Design Ltd; Brennan’s Centra, Roscommon.
We look forward to meeting you all on March 23rd at our meet and greet evening.
Thank you to the residents of Lisnamult for allowing us to ‘take over’ the estate during training nights and on the night itself. Thank you to Roscommon Gaels GAA, Greenfields Childcare and Roscommon Community College for allowing us to use your parking facilities.
What can I say about our wonderful and brave marshals? Thanks to each and every one of you for coming out and standing on the route to ensure everyone’s safety.
A special shout out to Nigel and the members of Roscommon Fire Brigade Services. We are very appreciative of your help and are really looking forward to our upcoming bowling match against you all. Without good marshals we would not be able to run a road race so thank you all.
I really appreciate the lovely way we all remembered the legend that was Máire Allen. Máire’s Mile was very poignant, but also beautiful. Thank you so much.
Finally, to our participants… a big thank you for all your support. This fun run would not be the event it is only for you. It gave us particular pleasure watching those who started out with us that first week in January cross the finishing line. So thank you all so very much. Well done everyone.
The landscape of Roscommon Community Sports Park is about to change as the athletic track development starts soon. Fundraising is well underway and tickets for the draw are currently available at winagardenroomandkitchen.ie.
As I conclude this 2026 event, plans are underway already for 2027, so see you next year – same time, same place – and thank you so much for your support.
