Six Dublin men aim to raise thousands of euros for GOAL, by collectively running 500km in the month of May. The men are running within 5km of their homes in line with the Covid-19 restrictions. They aimed to raise €1000 with €2 donated per km, but have already exceeded that goal with many more days of running to go.
The six men were all part of the same football team, the Lakeview Swans, which they set up 5 years ago. Despite being top of the UCFL (United Churches Football League) Premier Division, when the league was cancelled due to Coronavirus, the men took to running to stay active.
One of the runners, Conor Ward said, “We realised we probably wouldn’t play for Ireland, so we decided to take up running instead”.
The six have been friends for many years and have been involved with fundraising for GOAL since their days in school. When they saw the impact Covid-19 was having in the developing world, they set up a Whatsapp running group, the Lakeview Harriers, and decided to raise funds for GOAL.
The group describe themselves as “thirty-somethings pivoting from football to running”. With over 100km already ran, the group commit to running at least 500km. However, they will run as much as they can until the end of May.
“As we are unable to play football, we figured this would be a great way to look after our mental and physical health while raising money for an organsiation like GOAL” said Conor Ward.
GOAL is currently working across 13 countries to help vulnerable communities combat the spread of Covid-19. GOAL has experience in dealing with infectious diseases as a result of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014. The organisation is using this experience to help people in countries such as Sierra Leone and Malawi, which lack the basic healthcare facilities to cope with Covid-19.
To donate, visit the Lakeview Harriers – ‘500k in May’ page on idonate.ie.
