Meet the Royal Canal Runner

Meet the 'Royal Can Runner' Gary O’Daly who will be offering some advice on getting your run or walk in on the Royal Canal over the next few weeks. 

Club: Dublin Bay Running Club since 2015

Local ParkRun: Griffeen Parkrun, West Dublin

Started Running:  2011 when my wife Niamh signed up to run the Celbridge AC 5K and I decided to join her.

First Marathon: Dublin 2012

Biggest Achievement to date:  Setting the Fastest Known Time (still the only known time) for running the full length of the Royal Canal

Running Highlights: Running the Belfast 24 Hour relay event with my club mates, running the London 2 Brighton 100k ultra with my wife, running the Berlin marathon the day Kipchoge set the world record and completing the Donadea 50k five years in a row.

Royal Canal Runner Explained: Living in Maynooth I am lucky to have the Royal Canal only 400m from my house so I really make use of the fantastic amenity of the Royal Canal Greenway west of the town. With the warm up done by the time I reach the towpath I can do some speedwork on the straight out to Jackson Bridge, fit in a comfortable 10k by running out to Kilcock and back or enjoy a long run out to Enfield and back. Having the waterway beside you and the fields all around you makes it the perfect training ground. I thought I'd share some of my experiences with others so they too can enjoy what a fantastic amenity the Waterways are to all of us Runners and walkers.

Waterways Ireland

Athletics Ireland and Waterways Ireland strategic partnership seeks to promote physical activity on the over 1000km of trails and facilities across the Waterways Ireland system.

This partnership has seen a range of Athletics Ireland programmes including Fit4Life and The Daily Mile avail of Waterways Ireland facilities to help promote improved levels of fitness, health and wellness across all ages in a fun and sociable environment.