Members and supporters of Enniskillen Royal Boat Club took part in the Virtual Dublin Marathon/ Race Series last weekend in memory of Sir Tony Hart and Tom Noble, 2 wonderful Clubmen who both died suddenly last year.
85 people took part in the 4 distances ranging from 4 miles to a full marathon. This included rowers from the Club, coaches, parents, supporters and members of the Noble and Hart families. Participants ran, walked, cycled and rowed their chosen distance in small socially distanced groups all over the UK under the relevant COVID restrictions in their area.
Tom Noble’s son Gareth was joined by his young son Tom junior for the last 5 miles of his marathon cycle around the Phoenix Park due to the fact that he was unable to travel more than 5km from his Dublin home. His brother Mark had planned to accompany him on his Challenge but he was self isolating at home.
A couple of the rowers who were also isolating took to the indoor rowing machines to cover their distances.
Sir Tony’s daughter Katherine covered her marathon cycle in Edinburgh where she lives while Lady Mary Hart played her part by walking on the treadmill in her garage. Paddy Hart did his 42 km on the indoor rower.
Over the weekend the team managed to raise over £10,000 to put towards the purchase a new eight for the girls to compete in a new schoolgirls’ event at Henley Royal Regatta next year.
Kristen Bell was the top U19 female over 10k in a time of 53.55 with ERBC rowers taking 5 out of the top 6 positions.
Marcus Davis Kunze was the fastest U19 Male in 10k in a great time of 27.45. The ERBC boys took the top 4 places.
Aine McCaffrey was 2nd U19 female in half marathon with a time of 1.48.46
ERBC rowers, Lewis Nixon and Luke Paton, Assistant Coach, Barney Rix and ERBC parent, Mary Reihill ran the full marathon distance, a fantastic achievement for them all.
Gaye Conway from the Parent Support Group said ‘We are absolutely delighted that we have been able to honour Sir Tony and Tom in this way. With the current COVID restrictions we had to adapt our plans but the fact that the Dublin Marathon was Virtual this year allowed us to compete the distances in very small groups. It has been important to keep everyone active and to remain positive during these difficult times. We wish to thank everyone who took part, to everyone who sent messages of support and to all who donated money to our JustGiving page which will remain open until Sunday evening. Sir Tony and Tom played a huge part in the success of the Club and we will do all we can to ensure that their memory lives on through the work that we do at ERBC’
Derek Holland, Head of Rowing at the Club said ‘ We are very grateful to the Hart and Noble families for the backing that they continue to give to all the young rowers’
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jennifer-conway-637?utm_id=125
