Last year, we embraced the tagline "Together We Thrive," aiming to create a community of like-minded individuals who help and support one another. This year, we wanted to take it a step further by teaming up with Wild Ireland, not only promoting our tagline through our events but also supporting other selected Irish-owned businesses.
We were recently awarded B Corp certification, a significant achievement in our commitment to sustainability and environmental preservation. This commitment extends to the animals that are, or in this case, were native to Ireland. Through this partnership, we hope to raise awareness and spread knowledge about animal conservation. The animal chosen per event is one of Wild Ireland's key inhabitants of the sanctuary and something that symbolises the raw adventure we aim to bring through in our events.
Nestled in an ancient Celtic rainforest in Bunrfoot Donegal, Wild Ireland offers sanctuary to many animals that have been exploited, abused and pushed to the point of extinction at the hands of man. Their mission is to "rescue and rehabilitate animals needing sanctuary and help restore our natural environment through native planting. We aim to inspire young people to be the conservationists of the future through educating our guests on local and global conservation issues." A truly inspiring movement with just over 100 animals rescued thus far.
This year we have chosen the following animals to represent our three events.
We have chosen the wolf as our symbol for the Gaelforce 10K Bray event this year. The wolf was once common in Ireland, so much so that the country was called "Wolf Land" and they were known in Irish as Mac Tíre, meaning "son of the land."
This year we have selected the lynx as the animal for Gaelforce 10K Howth. The original Celtic Tiger, the Eurasian lynx is a large cat that once roamed Ireland. Little is known about the Irish lynx but it is fair to assume that the Lynx was reasonably abundant in the Irish countryside.
The brown bear will feature as the animal symbol, for Gaelforce 10K Wicklow. Once roaming Ireland freely around 2,500 years ago, the Irish bear lives on in folklore, even in names like McMahon (Mac Mathghamhain, meaning "son of bear"). Wild Ireland’s rescued bears now have a safe home, and the sanctuary is working to welcome two more.
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