Coverage of #Monagea17

SCORES of sliced pans, tray loads of buns and dozens of cakes and tarts were consumed by the hundreds and hundreds of people who took part in this year’s CRY Monagea.

And when the final tot is done, Liam Herlihy, one of the main organisers, reckons they will have over €12,000 to hand over to the Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) organisation based in Tallaght Hospital.

This money will help pay for the free services CRY provides to families who have suffered the sudden death of a young person, as happened in Monagea in 2011,when 20-year-old Niamh Herlihy and 15-year-old Darra O’Donovan both died within eight months of one another.

On Saturday, those names were in everybody’s hearts as, bolstered by a good feed, some 368 cyclists sped off on their chosen routes: the 25km family cycle, the 70km leisure cycle or the muscle-busting 100km, or the 125km West Limerick Endurance Cycle.

“That was the biggest number of cyclists we ever had,” Liam reported enthusiastically.

And they came from all over, he added, including one couple who left Dunmanway at 5am to be in time to register at 7.30am. “They are stone mad for sweet things when they are cycling,” Liam observed.

In addtion, over 400 signed up to walk or run although not everybody who did so actually donned the walking shoes.

But the roads around Monagea were hectically busy, with over 600 active participants. And the roads were also  mercifully free from rain, even though neighbouring parishes endured showers.

“We got great feedback from people. And a lot of new people came for the first time. It seems cycling is the new golf,” Liam laughed. “It was a great weekend.”

And both he and the organising team thanked their sponsors as well as the stewards and volunteer helpers and all those who took part.