Debbie, a dedicated mother of two, made significant life adjustments to support her son Adam, who was diagnosed with autism at four and a half years old.   “The early signs were evident by age two,” Debbie recalls, “as Adam showed delayed speech development and difficulty engaging socially with peers. This prompted an assessment and intervention, which Debbie credits as being unusually efficient, leading to a positive start in their journey of managing autism.   Fresh start Relocating to Lusk marked a fresh start, which proved beneficial for Adam. He thrived in Carnegie Mon ..read more

On 23 October 2021, my journey with parkrun commenced, a venture I began with the support of my family. I am blessed that Gorey Town Park is five minutes from our home, in Ireland’s sunny southeast, the county of Wexford.   parkrun isn’t only doing the 5K and getting my exercise in. Although it does that, parkrun every Saturday morning also gives me hope. It gives me a reason to get up and something to aim for.   Living with several invisible disabilities poses a lot of challenges, often eliciting misunderstandings and queries from onlookers. Questions such as “How is she c ..read more

When Paul Sinton-Hewitt kicked off the very first parkrun in 2004, who could have imagined the positive effect it would create, especially for those overcoming daily challenges around the world? Fast forward 15 years to 2019 which marked the beginning of a new chapter in one young autistic person’s life.   Gerard’s parkrun journey began in 2019, sparking a tradition that his friends Mikey and Peadar soon joined, creating memories and sticking together ever since. For Gerard, parkrun means having a set routine on a Saturday morning, mixing with people who accept him as he is and shares the ..read more

Name: Finbar Redmond Occupation: Carpenter Local parkrun: Mountlucas   How did you get involved in parkrun? I started to get involved in parkrun as I always loved running and started to run the local parkruns   What do you love about parkrun?I love the friends you make, and you can run or walk, there’s never any pressure to be super-fast.   Who do you participate with?I participate with my partner and my running friends.   Any parkrun milestones / achievements you would like to share?Since starting, I’ve completed over 100 parkruns.   How has parkrun impacted positivel ..read more

The core team at Griffeen parkrun takes the health and welfare of our community very seriously. We are aware of the possibility that an unexpected illness may arise for any of us while we are at parkrun and plan as best we can to deal with all eventualities. With that in mind, Griffeen bought a defibrillator some years ago, which was funded entirely by the generous contributions of our parkrun community. So every Saturday you can be assured that the defibrillator will be on standby at the home base together with several people who have been trained to use it.   So what would I like y ..read more

Anna and I have been searching for ways to get fit together. Between myself being generally unfit and Anna being fit as a fiddle, it has been difficult to find activities we can enjoy together.   During a Special Olympics activity, we were told about the Saturday parkrun that takes place in Gorey Town Park. Anna, ever so excited about combining socialising and exercising on the weekend was all for it, whereas I was doubtful. I didn’t think I could complete it at the level others could.   From the first time I attended, I was hooked! Whether you walk or run, it doesn’t matte ..read more

parkrun is for everyone, and always will be, for whatever you need it to be. For Ashley Riley, it wasn’t just about fitness; it was about recovery. After experiencing a stroke in June 2023, parkrun became a pivotal tool in his rehabilitation journey, shaping a new chapter of his life.   My first parkrun was on 22 January 2022. I had seen a post on social media and decided to go along to see what it was all about. I was surprised at how many people were there and I liked how everything was clearly explained at the start. The marshals were friendly and encouraging and I decided there and th ..read more

Meet Bryony, a parkrun ambassador who began her parkrun journey 11 years ago. Shortly after, her eldest son Oisín joined, followed by Finn and finally Naoise, her youngest son. While Oisín took to parkrun like a duck to water and enjoyed the running aspect, Naoise was never into participating in sports of any kind and preferred coming along to walk with his mother initially.   I began our conversation by explaining to Bryony that I may not be on point with the terminology used when discussing autism and apologised for any errors in advance.   Although I have known many people with au ..read more

Last Saturday saw a momentous milestone for parkrun Ireland when Monica Flanagan became the first ‘homegrown’ 500 milestone person in the Republic of Ireland when she crossed the line at Malahide parkrun.   We sat down with Monica last week to ask her about her parkrun history, all the way back to her first parkrun in 2012. Here’s her story.   “I did my first parkrun in Malahide and it was the second event, I missed the first one! I was instantly hooked, once I started I might have missed one or two weeks over the first couple of months, but once I started it became a habit.   ..read more

World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognised day marked annually on 2 April, encouraging United Nations countries to take measures to raise awareness about autistic individuals throughout the world.   What is autism? According to ASIAM, Ireland’s autism charity, autism is a lifelong, developmental difference which relates to how a person communicates and interacts with others, and how they experience the world around them.   Autism is a part of the broader neurodiversity family of differences or disabilities which encompasses people with conditions or differences such ..read more