Only 2 Weeks to GT5K!
22nd September 2022
Thousands of people are set to return once again to the streets of Dublin on Tuesday 4th October as the GT5K race series returns to the city. It marks the return of Ireland’s longest running corporate race event in person in the capital after taking place virtually in 2020 and 2021. IN addition, a large number have also registered to take part virtually, logging their times on the leaderboard on the day.
In the past month, the first of the two events in Cork and Galway have already seen teams pass the finish line and taking part in the festivities that followed.
Now in its 11th year, the GT5K series has grown from a single event in one location to series of 5K races involving over 8,000 participants, covering each province in the country. Three-time Olympian Derval O’Rourke will be race ambassador this year once again, while Irish Rugby Player James Lowe, BBC Journalist Holly Hamilton and Conor Oliver, Connacht Rugby player will join this year’s social squad.
While the race series was held virtually for the past two years due to Covid, it allowed GT5K to expand its international reach and saw runners participating from 23 different countries across the globe, including the UK, US, Cayman Islands, and Australia.
Building on the success of the recent virtual events, organisers are also delighted that participants from Belfast to Waterford, Mayo to Meath, and indeed those internationally can partake virtually at any time on the day.
Grant Thornton’s GT5K Ireland ambassador Derval O’Rourke was one of the many runners who participated in the Cork run on 6th September.
Commenting in the lead up to the GT5K race in Dublin, Olympian Derval O’Rourke said: ‘I am delighted to be taking part in the GT5K event this year and after seeing the healthy competition and overall good spirits at the Cork and Galway races, I’m sure Dublin participants and all those taking part in their hometowns and counties across the country will have a fantastic day.’
Aimed at encouraging social running amongst the business community across the country and indeed internationally via the virtual format, the event welcomes everybody from seasoned runners to complete beginners.
Each run can be completed individually or as a team, with four participants on each team. Team members’ times are combined to determine the winner in each category. There are three categories; male, female & mixed.
Michael McAteer, Managing Partner, Grant Thornton Ireland, said: “We are delighted to see the return of the live run for Grant Thornton’s GT5K series in Dublin. It has been brilliant to see the GT5K grow over the years, from a single run in 2012, to a fully-fledged series in many locations around the island of Ireland just over a decade later.
‘It’s fantastic to have the support of the business community in Dublin year-on-year, with more and more signing up and enjoying the healthy competition. This year we hope to build on the series’ success both nationally and internationally.
‘We look forward to GT5K 2022 being our biggest race series ever, which will help raise funds for the Red Cross and the brilliant work they do globally.’
All of the GT5K events are chip timed, with each participant receiving a technical t-shirt and virtual goody bag.
For registration and more information visit: https://www.grantthornton.ie/gt5k/
The Red Cross is the preferred charity partner for the GT5K race series in all locations globally and Grant Thornton Ireland as well as Athletics Ireland are delighted to supporting them with their inspiring humanitarian efforts around the world.
The Irish Red Cross is part of the largest global network of voluntary humanitarian action in the world – the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – which has a national organisation in nearly every country in the world – some 189 Red Cross or Red Crescent societies in total. The Irish Red Cross works both at home in Ireland and in countries overseas which have been damaged by wars or natural disasters.
