Ballymena Runners volunteering and supporting the community
Volunteers from Ballymena Runners continued to work in partnership with Woodsides Chemist delivering prescriptions to their patients. Ballymena Runners in partnership with Ecos Parkrun also collected donations every Saturday in December to support Ballymena Foodbank’s Christmas Appeal.
As a token of gratitude Woodsides were delighted to be able to donate £1,000 to a charity chosen by Ballymena Runners.
Pictured with Joanne is Will McDowell from Ballymena Food Bank. We hope this donation will help our local food bank to provide much needed hampers to the Ballymena community this Christmas.
Race Over The Glens – The best way to start any New Year!
Ballymena Runners have spent that last few Sunday’s providing coach led training sessions in Glenariff Forest in preparation for the New Year’s Day ‘Race Over The Glens’.
Competition on the day will be tough, with ten time race winner Jarlath Falls up against ‘Team Salomon’ mountain runner Zak Hanna.
Ballymena Runners will also be aiming to retain their team trophy.
The club has very tight Covid compliant arrangements in place with every runner receiving written instructions on how to ensure the event is safe for everyone.
This year's charity partner for ROTG is the NI Air Ambulance. This has been chosen by our Race Director and Course Director and their team.
The charity Air Ambulance Northern Ireland, in partnership with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, provides the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service for Northern Ireland. The service brings urgent medical assistance to anywhere in the province, operating seven days a week for 12 hours per day. It can get to anywhere in Northern Ireland in approximately twenty-five minutes.
From inception to August 2021 the medical crew have been tasked 2,430 times. The service was called out on 229 occasions from January – March 2021, an increase of 30 % on the previous year and a 73% increase from 2018.
The HEMS team attend patients who are seriously ill or injured, bringing emergency pre-hospital care direct to the casualty with the aim of saving lives, brains and limbs.
Air Ambulance NI needs to raise £2million each year to maintain this service so public donations are crucial. Fundraising has been severely impacted by Covid19 so Ballymena Runners are delighted to be able to play a small part in supporting this worthy cause.