Aherlow Ladies Gaelic Football Club and the Irish Wheelchair Association, Tipperary are delighted to announce a unique and exciting fundraising event in January 2024. The event titled “100k in a Day” will see Aherlow LGFA club member Stuart Moloney run 100km in a 24-hour period.

The gruelling challenge will see Stuart run 4km every hour on the hour for 24 hours (6km for hour 1 and hour 24). A competitive runner since retiring from Gaelic Football in 2010, this is a challenge sure to test an athlete who normally favours 3km and 5km distances.

Aherlow LGFA Chairperson David Grogan said “Aherlow LGFA is delighted to partner with the Irish Wheelchair Association, Tipperary for this fundraising event. We believe the shared organisational values of courage, equality, integrity, excellence and fun makes for an exciting partnership”.

Josephine Carroll, Service Coordinator for the Irish Wheelchair Association Tipperary said “we are delighted to be asked to partner with Aherlow LGFA in this exciting & challenging fundraiser which will provide much needed revenue to our Service here in Tipperary. This event will also encourage our members to become involved & is a great example of inclusion in our community. The IWA provides essential services to people with physical disabilities throughout Ireland, including our day services, which provide transport, social activities, training, outings & holidays to our members on a regular basis. We pride ourselves on delivering a high quality service to our members with people at the heart of everything that we do”.

Stuart Moloney

The timing of the event in early January is set to coincide with the start of the ‘Every Step Counts My Life’ Challenge which is delivered in conjunction with the Irish Life GAA Healthy Club Project. The challenge succeeds in motivating people to exercise together, meet new people and make real improvements to their physical and emotional health. The aim of the challenge is to increase health and connection in communities nationwide.

Aherlow LGFA (in partnership with Aherlow GAA) were recently presented with a national recognition award for their participation in the Irish Life GAA Healthy Club Project. The project aims to help GAA clubs explore how they support the holistic health of their members and the communities they serve. The GAA Healthy Club project is delivering health and wellbeing benefits worth €50M to Ireland, according to the findings of an independent Social Return on Investment (SROI) evaluation conducted recently by Just Economics.

Stuart commented “This is not a challenge I am relishing. I normally race and train over much shorter distances and have never covered 100km in one week, not to mind in one day. Nonetheless, I see the contribution Aherlow LGFA makes to supporting the health and wellbeing of the community, as well as the incredible work the Irish Wheelchair Association, Tipperary performs both nationally and locally. If we can inspire people to become more active, aware of their physical and mental health, that to me would be success”.

It is hoped the fundraising event will encourage people to be more active, and act as a catalyst for people to get out and exercise at what can be a challenging time of year. Aherlow LGFA and the IWA are encouraging members of the public to join in on the day. Funds raised from the challenge will go towards the provision of essential resources and services for the Irish Wheelchair Association, as well as contributing to the costs associated in operating Aherlow LGFA.