Count Up 2009-03-22T00:00:00 down 1

  • 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.

  • I know the organisation of the event requires a huge amount of work and preparation so thank you again. It was really appreciated by myself and my friends who all had a really great day.

  • I had the pleasure of running the Connemara International Half Marathon yesterday, 1hr 58! Yeoowh!!. The weather was amazing, the course was amazing, the runners, the locals, and staff were amazing! I've rarely had such a good time exercising.

  • Thanks very much to everyone involved, that was just brilliant, I didn't hit the wall, it fell on top of me, finishing was one of the best things I have ever done and I'll definitely be back next year.

  • The race itself was great and thank god for the weather, thanks to ray and the organisation team too. I really enjoyed it and will be back next year. The soup after the race was lovely. It was like a meal in itself.

Event History

From strength to strength

Since its inaugural International run, 5 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 2007.

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.