Future overall winners of the Donegal Half Marathon will be presented with the Dessie Larkin Perpetual Shield.
The late Dessie Larkin, who died suddenly on March 18th last, was one of the main driving forces behind the Donegal Half Marathon and Marathon first held in Letterkenny in 2014.
The organising committee, of which the late Dessie Larkin was a key member, are keen that his name remains associated with the annual event. This week, the committee announced that the overall winner of future Donegal Half Marathons will be presented with the Dessie Larkin Perpetual Shield.
Speaking at a briefing at Kernan’s Spar at Tullygay in Letterkenny this week, Donegal Half Marathon Ambassador, Danny McDaid, said it was important that Dessie Larkin’s name lives on through the Donegal Half Marathon.
“Dessie was one of the driving forces behind the Donegal Marathon and Donegal Half Marathon. We approached Dessie’s wife, Mary and proposed naming the shield for the overall winner in Dessie’s memory.
Mary and the Larkin family were happy to go along with it. We think it is a fitting tribute to a man who did so much for his community and who always had the best interest of the people at heart,” he commented.
“Dessie was a great worker. He was always looking at ways in which things could be improved and made better, and the Donegal Half Marathon was no exception. Dessie contributed so much to the success of the Donegal Half Marathon and his input is sorely missed,” he added.
“Dessie was a young teenager when the national marathon was held in Letterkenny in 1983 and it was his memory of that event which inspired him to resurrect the marathon in his home town again in 2014. Dessie has left a great legacy and it is important that the current committee and future committees do all they can to make sure that the annual event remains a regular fixture and lives long into the future.”
The 2019 Donegal Half Marathon takes place in association with Kernan’s Retail Group on Sunday, August 18th at 9.20 am in Letterkenny.
Almost 300 have entered to date and organisers are hopeful that the final entry will be much higher. Good interest has also been shown in the relay section of this year’s event.
Relay teams will have three members, with each running a 7K leg.
The Donegal Half Marathon is one of the best value-for-money events in the long distance race category. It guarantees the following:
* Specially commissioned T-shirt
* Finisher’s medal
* Accurately measured and fully marked out course
* Goodie bag
* Drink stations along route
* Post race refreshments
* Showering facilities
Remember, no entries will be taken on the morning of the event. To register log on to
https://www.njuko.net/donegal-half-marat…/select_competition
