Entry open for 2013!
April 7th 2013
Maam Cross, Co Galway
Not long until April 1st!
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Well done Ray! Absolutely fantastic event, nothing like it in the world! You really deserve so much credit. We all really enjoyed it, I loved every minute from start to finish, and usually I hate running in the sun.
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Just have to let you know, what a great day we had today. Well done. Really enjoyed the marathon well organised. Even the weather how did you do it. It was a great day.
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Seriously-this has to rank as one of my top marathons(and i have done a few). Thanks for a superb and memorable day. I'll be back next year.
Event History
From strength to strength
Since its inaugural International run, 6 years ago, The Connemara International Marathon has rapidly gone from strength to strength growing from an initial 72 entries in 2001 to over 3,500 in April 2008.
A further analysis of the 2007 visitors shows that over 1,000 travelled to the event from outside Ireland and 90% from outside County Galway. This influx meant a very substantial contribution to the tourism economy of the area, over what is usually an off-season week-end.
The idea of developing a marathon event through Connemara came from Ray O’Connor of Galway, a marathon runner who has successfully completed the New York, Chicago, London, Edinborough, and Dublin marathons. He identified a growing niche-market among runners and walkers interested in running and walking through pristine West of Ireland / Gaeltacht countryside as an alternative to the usual marathon routes through major city streets. The word spread rapidly when the Irish Times published this striking photograph of Eileen Donoghure and Bridget Anne Walsh taking part in the 2002 event. Online marketing and a growing Connemarathon Community worldwide has helped make the Connemarathon one of the most talked about races in Europe.
