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Anyone for Hurl-o? Former Offaly hurler and Dublin footballer Bernard Brogan at the Race the Rás launch ©INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan
Bikers

On yer bike: GAA stars get behind charity cycling initiative

Dublin forward Bernard Brogan was at Croke Park to promote ‘Race the Rás’ and may have inadvertently created a new sport.

CYCLING ENTHUSIASTS AND amateurs alike are being encouraged to sign up for a charity event that allows participants to follow the route of the An Post Rás.

Stars, past and present, from the GAA world were at Croke Park on Thursday to back a campaign called Race the Rás, which hopes to raise €250,000 for Aware and the National Breast Cancer Research Institute.

Cyclists can sign up to take part in the eight day event that tracks the route of Ireland’s biggest annual road race.

The charitable endeavour is the brainchild of former St Brigid’s GAA player Eamonn O’Muircheartaigh, who revealed that he began cycling in earnest only three years ago after taking a bet to pedal 110 kilometres around the Dingle penninsulsa.

Myriad of sports stars

The event takes place from May 20 to 27 and participants can register to cycle all eight stages, totalling some 1,260km, a single stage or a combination of two to three stages.

Some of the GAA stars already signed up include Ciaran Whelan, Dan Shanahan, Sean Og O’hAlpin, Ollie Canning and Eddie Brennan.

Former Munster and Ireland forward Mick Galwey will also don his cycling shorts.

He commented, “I was involved last year in the race and raising so much money meant that all the hard work most definitely paid off. We hope to raise as much as possible this year for two very worthy causes.”

Hurling polo

Dublin footballer Bernard Brogran was on hand at Croker to personally back the event’s recruitment drive and hopped onto the saddle of a racing bike to zoom up the sidelines.

He did battle for the puck (as seen above) with former Offaly hurler Michael Duignan and may have invented a whole new sport – hurling polo.

Not too sure what the Croke Park groundsmen would make of it though.

For more information visit www.racetheras.com.