FITNESS SHOULD BE fun. If you aren’t enjoying training or working out, you’re doing it wrong.
You might be training at the wrong gym, or working with the wrong personal trainer or doing the wrong type of exercise for you.
Whether you hit the gym with the resolve and determination of Rocky or take a leisurely stroll on the seafront with the dog, movement and being active should be enjoyable.
Don’t listen to the naysayers who say fitness is boring. Those people have just yet to find their niche. Most people can manage to walk, jog or run a 5k and with free 5k park runs popping up across the country, they are a great way to spend an hour of your weekend.
The weather this week has been phenomenal so we have created our top fun runs that are taking place this summer across the country to get you active and keep you moving.
These races are not about winning but about the experience, the comradeship and the sheer craic of getting out and doing something more than just pounding the pavement.
Sumo Run
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The Sumo Run is a fun charity event in which participants wear inflatable Sumo suits and run a 5k route along the seafront in Bray, Co Wicklow.
Does that not sound like great craic to you? The event takes place on the 28 August at 12 noon and the Sumo suit is included in the entry fee of €40 for a single participant and €140 to enter a team of 4 people.
If the Sumo Suit has not won you over, the charity organising this event will. The aim of the Sumo Run is to raise much needed funds to support families affected by cancer, through the work of the Purple House Cancer Support.
While the day promises to be one for the whole family, the Sumo suits are only suitable for children over 1.2 meters in height. More information can be found here.
The Wild Air Run
The Wild Air Run promises to be a run like no other. The 5k route is made of 10 large inflatable obstacles which participants must battle their way through.
The focus of this race is on fun so they are not timing participants. Tickets prices range between €16.00 and €28.50. Participants must be 7 years old or over to enter.
Venues in Dublin include Cabinteely Park (1-3 July), Malahide Castle (22-24 July) and Marley Park (12-17 August).
The Wild Air Run goes to Cork between the 8 and 10 July and runs at Fota House, Carrigtwohill. More information can be found here.
The Colour Dash
The Colour Dash is certainly the most colourful run in Ireland. This run, which is a fundraising effort by the Irish Cancer Society, welcomes participants of all ages and abilities and involves being doused from head to toe with coloured powder paint while participants run, jog, or walk the 5k route.
The Colour Dash takes place in four different locations across the country. The Colour Dash is in the Phoenix Park on the 18 June, in Cork City Centre on 26 June, in Galway NUIG on 12 June and finally in Sligo, in Doorly Park, on 24 July.
Tickets are priced at €30 per person and children under 12 are free, once accompanied by an adult. More information can be found here.
The Great Pink Run
The Great Pink Run takes place on Saturday 27 August in the beautiful Phoenix Park and aims to raise vital funds to assist the ongoing research efforts to transform breast cancer from being a fatal disease to a long term treatable illness.
Participants are asked to run, jog or even walk the dog through on a 10k Challenge Run or 5k Fun Run.
Men, women and children are welcome to participate and race entry is currently priced at €22 for early entry and €15 for U18s.
More information can be found on their website here.
The Docklands 5k
Looking for something active to do with your work colleagues, try the Dockland’s 5k.
This race is run by the Crusaders Athletic club so it is legitimately a race run for runners by runners. Entry is open to all business teams of three as well as individuals.
Team categories include male only teams, female only teams and mixed teams.
The race takes place on Thursday 14 July at 7.30pm on the South Docks at Lime Street.
The entry fee is €60 per team or €20 per individual and a technical running t-shirt is included in the entry fee. More information can be found here.
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