Tallaght 5k Road Race is back with a bang

TALLAGHT Athletic Club’s 5k Road Race has been launched, with around 400 people expected to participate in the flagship event which is due to take place on St Patrick’s Day.

It has been around 10-years since Tallaght AC started doing their own 5k Road Race and the event has been a huge success for the club, growing in popularity through the years.

Come 10am on March 17, around 400 joggers will start their run on the Greenhills Road outside the Astropark, turn left in Tallaght Village, head towards Tymon North and cut in left again towards the Penny Black Tavern along the Castletymon Road.

After that, participants will turn back onto the Greenhills Road and enter the Tallaght AC running track, where they will complete the event.

With around 300 people already signed up at €20, the cut-off point to join the road race is March 8 and late entries will cost €25.

While Tallaght AC do utilise the event as a fundraiser and way of promoting their club, they do not turn much of a profit from the event with each finisher earning a special t-shirt.

Gerry Wallace, who has been running for nearly 50 years and is chairperson of Tallaght AC, is delighted to see the 5k Road Race back at full strength.

“The 5k road race has been one of the landmark events in Tallaght Athletic Club over the last decade,” Wallace tells The Echo.

“This serves as one of our main drivers to get people involved with the club and it helps get our club on the map.

“Every running club has their own road race, this is our rendition.

“We’re around 10 years doing it and we already have nearly 300 entries for this year.

“Covid kind of knocked us back a bit, but the numbers of entries were back up last year and we expect them to be up again this year at around 400.”

Beforehand, Tallaght AC is holding an open day to give those interested in taking up running an opportunity to learn about their club on Saturday, March 4 at 10am to 12pm.