On Saturday, March 22nd 2025, 49 people from the Ballyfin area, supported by a large team of volunteers, ran a lap of a pitch in each of the 44 club grounds in Laois.

A huge congratulations to all of the runners:
Sean Connolly, Colm Linehan, Myles Connolly, Paul Phelan, Brona Allen, Michelle Finn, David McNabb, Marie Claire Burke, Jason Horan, Enda Griffin, Niall Westman, Shane Conlon, Bríd McGill, Carol Phelan, Niamh O’Rourke, Rena Duff, Sophie Connolly, Aidan Keenaghan, Adam Connolly, Antoinette Connolly, Clare Kavanagh, Colette Duff, Ricky Quillinan, Eli Heffernan, Ber Spillane, Paul Dunne, Colin Finn, Orlaith Meade, Deirdre Finn, Micheal Moloney, Conall Rowney, Anna Grennan, Colm Coss, Ava Prendergast, Donna Connolly, Paraic Crone, Garry Dunne, Dearbhail Cuddy, Maeve Carroll, Billy O’Connor, Cathy Hogan, Brigid Meade, James Finn, Brian Seale, Eoin Connolly, Tommy Mulligan, Teresa Cox, Aobha Bergin and Eamon Duff.

The Dash 44
On Saturday, there was the Dash 44,
All the participants had to run more and more.
Because of the busy day planned ahead,
No-one, yes, no-one could stay in bed.
From the beginning we had great faith,
And pitch after pitch it just went great.
At the last pitch we had to run, run, run,
And before we knew it the Dash 44 was done!
                                                                                                   -Fiadh Conlon, 3rd class

It wasn’t quite a case of ‘before we knew it the Dash was done’ perhaps (certainly not for the runners), but nonetheless the success of the ‘Dash to 44’ exceeded even our most optimistic expectations. We are all thrilled with how it went – in terms of the day itself, the huge community effort that rowed in behind it so effectively, and the money raised for the Astroturf project. There are so many people to be thanked and it is difficult to express the extent of our gratitude to everyone who got involved. 

A huge thanks of course to the runners, who so energetically and enthusiastically embraced the challenge and ran full laps at such speeds around every GAA club. Well done to the three time coaches, Shane Conlon, Michelle Fitzpatrick and Aidan Keenaghan who achieved the seemingly impossible feat of actually getting the runners back ahead of schedule. Ray Dermody made a huge contribution to the final route, and he arranged for the Garda Escorts in Abbeyleix, Stradbally and Graiguecullen. Paul and Catriona Phelan checked all the Eircodes, and researched which pitches had running tracks. We are very grateful to the First Aiders (Gayle Kelliher, Avril Fitzgerald, Mary Troy, Sharon O’Loughlin, Ilkay Yildiz and Joe Dunne) who followed the convoy so diligently throughout the day, and whose services were happily not much needed. We are very grateful to Donncha Phelan who offered his physio services on Saturday. Thanks also to all those who acted as stand-by First Aiders for the day. Declan Looby, Martina Kelly and Cora Gorman drove the ‘sweeper’ cars behind the convoy, with Grace Milne on stand-by. Niall Scully and Linda Meredith accompanied the convoy in the ‘Dash’ car which catered for lunch, tyre repair and other random things. Niall and Linda, helped by Ella and Leah, also took many of the pitch-side videos and photos that were posted on Facebook and Instagram during the day. Indeed, there was huge work done behind the scenes promoting the event on social media, both on Saturday and for weeks beforehand – the challenges of that job cannot be underestimated, and huge credit is due to Alice Quillinan and Ciara Conlon for their diligence and creativity. Alan Hartnett, Steven Miller and  Laois Today gave us great publicity. Jean-Marc Gasche was here before dawn to help load the buses, and Paul Phelan and Declan Looby stood out in the wet dark parking cars.  Thanks to everyone who supplied the baked goods, and to those who helped prepare/tidy the dining areas and serve the food-  Mary Phelan, Dolores Prendergast, Helen Moore, Veronica Lanham, Wendy O’Reilly, Grace Milne, Laura Linehan, Mary Claire Cuddy, Helena Horan, Caitriona Phelan, Laura Thompson, Aoife Phelan and Cathy Graham, among others. Tom Thompson came at very short notice to solve a Burco related disaster, and Dan Hooban delivered the tables from the Hall down to us. Thanks to Aiden, Colm and Aodhán Heffernan who helped construct the Finish line arch, and to Laois Sports Partnership who supplied it to us. A huge thanks to Slieve Bloom Coaches for going with what originally seemed like a mad idea, and to the bus drivers who so cheerfully and helpfully took on the driving on the day  - Pat O’Sullivan, Peter Cosmas and Tony Walsh.  Thanks to everyone on the Parent Association committee, who contributed in so many different ways since this idea first germinated back in November  - Laura Linehan, Jean Marc Gasche, Catriona Phelan, Aoife Phelan, Linda Meredith, Ciara Conlon, Michelle Fitzpatrick, Deirdre Finn, Laura Thompson, Cassandra Comerford and Webster Mutsatsa.  Dan Slevin (Catholes Sauna) brought a box of beanie hats on Saturday morning, which came in very handy in light of the weather. Damien and Gráinne Quigley most generously sponsored the striking ‘Dash’ t-shirts that the participants wore so proudly. Barry Linden provided water for the buses, Carroll’s Spar Mountrath provided fruit, Mulhall’s Supervalu Portlaoise provided energy drinks and sweets, Downey’s Centra sponsored the lunch in Stradbally, and Brady’s Signs provided signage and decorated the Dash car – we are very appreciative of all the generosity. Away from the Dash excitement, Yvonne and Ed Thompson, Alan Connolly, Tadhg, Fionnan and Oisin Gilligan collected for us in O’Moore Park on Saturday afternoon. Thanks to everyone who came to the various pitches to offer support throughout the day – I know that was hugely appreciated by the runners. A huge thanks to the many, many people who stood in the sheeting rain at the pitch in Ballyfin to welcome us back, the volunteers who helped at the pitch and all those who added so much to the atmosphere in the school hall afterwards.

Two people deserve a separate paragraph. Without Sean Connolly we would not have had the Dash idea, and he deserves huge credit for his passion and commitment to it, and his confidence that it would work. If I was to list all the contributions to the Dash made by the indefatigable Sarah Heffernan, this email would be too long to send. Suffice to say that Sarah was absolutely indispensable to the project, and was involved in every aspect of it –as many of you know from phone-calls and emails! I cannot imagine the ‘Dash to 44’ without Sarah’s energy, efficiency and drive behind it.

Thanks are due also to all the club secretaries in every GAA club in Laois who facilitated us so readily, with some really going out of their way to help us. A particular note of thanks to Stradbally Club, who not only gave us access to their kitchen facilities, and a great welcome, but also made a donation to the Dash.

I am terrified that I have left someone out as so many people helped in so many ways, some I might not even be aware of. Please forgive me if I did.