Bon Secours to sponsor children’s ‘Run for Fun’ on May Bank Holiday weekend

Bon Secours Hospital Limerick at Barringtons is delighted today to announce that it is renewing its sponsorship of the children’s ‘Run for Fun’ at the Great Limerick Run weekend. 

The announcement was made today at the Bon Secours Hospital Limerick by hospital Manager Jason Kenny and ‘Run for Fun’ CEO John Cleary. Also in attendance were Limerick hurling manager John  Kiely and players Diarmaid Byrnes, Will O’Donoghue and Declan Hannon.

The event will take place on Saturday, May 2nd at the University of Limerick.  

The run, which is non-competitive, is for national school children (5-13 years) across multiple distances and suitable for all standards.  The sponsorship is another Bon Secours Hospital Limerick commitment to supporting activity in the county, following the signing of a three-year agreement last year to sponsor the Limerick senior  hurling club championship

Speaking at today’s announcement, hospital manager Jason Kenny said:

“We have a long running relationship with the Great Limerick Run weekend, having previously sponsored the Sunday event,  which is an incredible success in its own right, bringing over 14,000 people into the city on the May  Bank Holiday Weekend. It’s a huge boost for the city in terms of sports tourism and has been one of the stand-out individual elements that have combined into the great Limerick success story over the  past decade or so.

“We were delighted to take up on the opportunuty to sponsor the ‘Run for Fun’ because it promotes healthy activity amongst children and that’s something as a healthcare provider that we are very keen to promote. Getting children involved in exercise can introduce them to something that will stay with them for much of their  lives and reduce health risks. It’s also good for their wider wellbeing, their confidence, things that are very important to work on from an early age.” 

Said John Cleary, CEO of the Great Limerick Run:

“It’s essential when you are getting sponsorship partners on board that they are the right fit from the actual event’s perspective. Bon Secours Hospital Limerick ticks that box. It has a great heritage here in the city given the hospital’s origins here  and they are a healthcare provider operating to the highest standards. 

“We were delighted to have them as title sponsors of the Sunday event prior to this and delighted that they have stayed with us to sponsor this very important ‘Run for Fun’. It is what it says on the tin. We want to introduce them to healthy activity, to having fun doing it and that’s what the event is all about. We’ve seen their delight at crossing the finishing line knowing, as they do that, it’s not a competitive event, that everyone is a winner. And we’ve seen the delight of their parents at watching the children getting out there, participating in such a healthy activity and enjoying themselves in the process.”

Said John Kiely, Limerick senior hurling manager,

“As a school principal and someone involved in sport pretty much all my life, I’ve seen just how important participation in sport is, no matter what 
code it is. We have to encourage our children to be involved first and foremost. It cannot be about competitiveness for them, it must be about fun when they are this stage of life. I commend John Cleary and his team for pulling this event together and Bon Secours Hospital Limerick at Barringtons for sponsoring it. They have put their support behind Limerick hurling through their sponsorship of the senior hurling club championship over the past year m and they must be commended again on getting involved in another very positive Initiative with the Run for Fun.”