Centre Phonsie Clifford, left of Phonsie is James Barry Milford Care Centre and right of Phonsie is Trevor Cavanagh of Monami Construction along with staff from Milford Care Centre.
Photo: Keith Wiseman
Phonsie Clifford, the remarkable 88-year old marathon man and somebody who is determined to keep on running, recently launched Milford Hospice’s Annual 10km fundraising event. Phonsie is something of a local legend, well known for running marathons and after completing his 27th Dublin marathon, he confirmed that he has no intention of hanging up his running shoes just yet.
The 10km Run/Walk, now in its seventh year will take place on Sunday, February 3rd at the University of Limerick with a start time of 11am.
Phonsie explained, “I am delighted to be associated with the launch of the 10km and with so many people getting fit after all the Christmas festivities and with New Year resolutions in place, sure what better way to start the New Year than by participating in the Milford Hospice 10km fun run/walk”. “Staff operating at this state of the art Mid-West Hospice in Limerick and across its community services in Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary do an amazing job. I encourage everyone to participate – bring your friends, family, neighbours – everyone is welcome to come out and support Milford Hospice,” he said.
The 10km is open to runners and walkers of all levels and abilities with all of the proceeds going directly to support the work of Milford Hospice across the three Counties of Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary.
Pat Quinlan, Chief Executive of Milford Care Centre explained, “This event has become a popular sporting and fun activity with participant levels growing on an annual basis and last year we saw record numbers with over 1,600 taking part, which is truly amazing”. Pat went on to say, “since we changed the route last year, we received such positive feedback from our entrants and it has certainly kept the event interesting and varied”. “Fundraising support has become even more imperative, he added: “Our focus in 2019 will be on improving and expanding services available within our community bases in Ennis, Nenagh, Newcastle West and Thurles so that we are better able to respond to meeting the needs of patients and families residing at home in local communities across the Mid-West. We pride ourselves in striving to deliver services of the highest quality and standards for the people we serve and this would not be possible without the ongoing generosity of the general public so please come along to support this key fundraising event. Pat went on to state that “For all such events we rely on sponsorship support and we are delighted that Monami Construction Ltd, Building Contractors, who were associated with the building of our new Hospice, which opened in 2018, have come on board again this year as our main sponsor”.
Bryan Quille, Director, Monami’s Construction said, “We are delighted to sponsor the running tops for the Milford Hospice 10km event again this year. Whilst our primary role is that of building contractors, we, nonetheless, also like to support and invest in the supporting community work”. Bryan went on to say; “we have great admiration and respect for what Milford Hospice is all about in their ongoing and relentless efforts to care for palliative care patients across the Mid-West region”.
The new starting location for the 10km route will be on the main Plaza outside the library and there will be stewards to direct supporters to this new start area. The warm-up is also taking place at this location and participants will then progress along the route, which will be well marshalled, before reaching the finishing point on the UL track.
Early-bird registration is now open, with a fee of €20 so early registration is encouraged. Participants can register on Milford Care Centre’s website, on www.milfordcarecentre.ie or for further details please feel free to contact the Fundraising Department on (061) 485860.