charity event | Croi Heart & Stroke Charity

Pictured at the launch of the 7^th Annual Croí Night Run, from left, Christine Flanagan, Croí’s Director of Fundraising; Anita Lilly at Rossnowlagh Beach in Donegal – Anita recently stayed in the Croí Courtyard Apartments while her Dad received heart care in Galway; Edel McDermott, Corporate Key Account Manager with Irish Life Health (event sponsor); and Sharron Lynskey, Presenter with iRadio (event media partner).

Croí, the heart and stroke charity, is delighted to announce the 7th Annual Croí Virtual Night Run taking place on Friday, October 8, 2021! Join with your family, friends and colleagues to run, walk or jog a 5km in aid of Croí.

With thanks to our new sponsor Irish Life Health and our media partner, iRadio, 100% of the proceeds will go directly to supporting Croí services. This includes supporting our health and support programmes including Heartlink West (our free community phone line) and the Croí Courtyard Apartments, free to families in need while their loved ones receive heart or stroke care.

Following a hugely successful virtual event last year with participants taking place from all over Ireland and internationally, Croí encourages participants to take part in their own local area on Friday, October 8 at 8pm (or whatever time is most suitable, respecting safety and social distancing guidelines) and run, jog or walk a 5K.

Participants will receive a special Croí Night Run goodie bag, with a reflective Croí Night Run long-sleeve running top, virtual race number and a limited-edition Night Run “blinky heart” to wear on the night.

Speaking at the launch, Edel McDermott from Irish Life Health commented “We’re delighted to partner with Croí and take part in this 5k walk or run. At Irish Life Health, we’re really passionate about promoting the benefits of exercise and how it will help us live healthier lives.”

“We are excited to bring you a fun, virtual event for 2021! People living with heart disease and stroke need our support and services more than ever, and we are so grateful for your support of this fundraising event,” says Christine Flanagan, Croí’s Director of Fundraising.

Registration is now open at €25 for adults or €15 for youths over 12 years of age. Teams are also welcome – for more information, please contact christine@croi.ie. Learn more and register now at www.croi.ie/nightrun.

The sold-out 5^th Annual Croí Night Run took place last Friday (October 11) along the Salthill Prom in Galway. Over 1,500 runners and walkers, including 16 local corporate teams, came out in support of Croí’s largest fundraising event of the year. This year virtual runners even took part in the event, running the Night Run from Longford and Chicago! Croí is thrilled to announce that over €70,000 was raised, a new record. 100% of the proceeds will go to support Croí’s life-saving work in the community and at Croí Centre, thanks to the continued sponsorship of Evergreen Healthfoods.

The race was chip-timed and participants can check out their race time at croi.ie/nightrun. Keeping it close to home, Daragh O’Reilly, son of Kevin O’Reilly – Croí’s Board Chairman, crossed the finish line first with an incredible time of 16:55! Photos from the event are posted to Croí’s Facebook page @croiheartstroke.

“We are so overwhelmed by the incredible response this year! To sell-out in our 5^th year is fantastic and we are already planning for a bigger and better event again next year. Let’s get 2,020 runners on the Prom for 2020! We’re so grateful to all our participants, volunteers and our generous sponsors Evergreen Healthfoods and iRadio for making this our biggest year yet. Every euro raised will go directly to supporting the work at Croí and the fight against heart disease and stroke,” says Christine Flanagan, Croí’s Fundraising Director.

Stay tuned for 2020! Due to the incredible demand this year, we will be adding extra spaces for 2020 and opening our registration early. Save the date for Friday, October 9, 2020.