No Limits: Keep ‘Er Lit Running continues to flourish

As Keep ‘Er Lit Running prepares for its upcoming Newell Stores 5k and 10k run on May 26 – the club’s sixth event – the Coalisland running group has firmly established itself as an important part of the community.

What started as a group of friends preparing for the Dublin Marathon back in 2014, has now become the biggest running club in Mid Ulster.

Cathal O’Hagan, a founding member of the club spoke of its origins…

“A group of four or five guys who came from different sporting backgrounds came together and started training to compete in the Dublin Marathon. We started training together off a 12-week plan we got online and that sort of sowed the seed for Keep ‘Er Lit. In 2014 we thought why don’t we get a club vest and give ourselves a name, why not form a club, that’s how Keep ‘Er Lit started.”

Over the following three years, Keep ‘Er Lit wasn’t an official club as they were not affiliated with Athletics NI. But that was all to change.

“We elected a committee, holding an AGM, doing the paperwork and became an official registered athletics club affiliated to Athletics NI in 2017,” Cathal continued.

WORD OF MOUTH

At first the club grew mostly through word of mouth, but Cathal remarked that its social media presence helped the club reach more people and ultimately grow at a rapid rate. Originally, most of the members came from the Coalisland area but now runners arrive from areas such as Armagh, Ballygawley, Killeeshil, Cookstown, Ballyronan, Magherafelt and Ballinderry.

“We started to reach out to people who were outside our friend group and had seen online some of our racing achievements,” he continued. “Social media had a big part in that next phase in the development of the club.

“A lot of our membership is 35 years and older and these guys are getting a lot of mental health benefits from still being active and still being competitive.”

YOUTH

The Keep ‘Er Lit committee made the decision in 2022 that, although the club was happy to cater for people in their 30s, they realised that it was important to also attract younger members who could bring the club even further forward in the future. Consequently the club developed a junior section which has seen vast growth, with membership from all over the Mid-Ulster area.

“Within the past two years our committee has set up a youth committee led by our youth officer,” Cathal explained. “We now have our juniors competing in what would be considered the traditional route to athletics and we ensure we are bringing children and juniors through the correct way in terms of speed, short distance and cross country.”

The junior members of the Keep ‘Er Lit club are now competing and winning at national level, representing both Northern Ireland and Ireland. The ladies team finished second in Ulster in NI novice cross country and went on to compete at all Ireland level.

Other members have been achieving success at all distances including a win at master’s level last year for one of the male runners in the national 5k in Tullamore. The ladies team won Ulster and NI half marathon championships, beating a lot of more established clubs.

The club also scooped Mid Ulster Club of the year 2023/24, an accolade that Cathal believes shows that the club is on the right path.

“That was amazing, very affirming,” he said. “I think a couple of things that were most pleasing to the committee were how Mid Ulster Council recognised what we were doing as a club. We began as a marathon club but now we cater for all aspects of athletics. Mid Ulster Council also recognised the physical health and mental health benefits of getting our kids active.”

So far, the runs in which Keep ‘Er Lit members have taken part have raised over £55,000 for charities.

“Marie Curie and Cystic Fibrosis are charities close to running members’ hearts and have been our charity partners from the very start and remain so this year,” Cathal said.

Keep ‘Er Lit continues to offer people from all backgrounds an opportunity to run competitively whilst unearthing talent in athletics from all over Mid Ulster and beyond. From that point of view and with the talent coming through at youth level, Cathal believes anything is possible.

“We hope to have an Olympic medallist,” he admitted. “Keep ‘Er Lit are going to unearth another Nick Griggs very soon; we are already seeing that within our juniors. We are trying to raise the profile of athletics in Mid- Ulster and let people know we are here to stay and here to develop athletics for quite some time to come.”