Skip navigation 
Previous Page
8
NEWS
June/July 2013 www.esb.ie/em
ESB ATHLETIC CLUB
BEACH RACE 2013
THE EXPECTED DOWNPOURS and protected Brent geese stayed away, enabling ESB Athletic Club to host another fine, competitive 5km beach race. The race was held on Sandymount Strand on Tuesday May 7th and the course consisted of a 1.25km route out and back, which was then repeated to make up the 5km. A good turnout of approximately 223 athletes registered, marshalled and fed by ESB Athletic Club volunteers who took extra care to persuade dog walkers and those with children to watch out for the bunch of racers heading towards them.
The athletes were also reminded to watch their step as this natural course had several rocky obstacles on the route, making it a fairly unique race in the BHAA calendar. A big thanks to all the volunteers who assisted on the night as without them this annual event could not go ahead.
First home was Kevin O'Brien from Cork who won the Eamon Gilbert Perpetual Cup, finishing in an impressive time of 16min 30sec, while Paul Cowhie was the familiar winner of the over 40s Stephen Kennefick Trophy with a time of 17min 01sec. The first lady home was Orla Gormley with a time of 19min 50sec. Trophies and prizes were presented by Matt Reid, ESB Athletic Club Chairman, with the assistance of the Gilbert and Kennefick families.
OTHER RESULTS
• RTE, 5th Class A (E. McWalter, N. McGeorge, D. Daly), 6th Class B (S. Naughton, C. Cronin, K. Comerford) 3rd Ladies Team (H. Hennessy, J. Doherty, G. Coogan)
• K Club 10km, 3rd Class C (E. McWalter, 38.21; S. Naughton, 40.58; G. Coogan, 56.45)
• DCC 4km, 2nd Place Class B (E. McWalter, S. Naughton, C. Cronin) and 5th Class C (D. McColgan, M. Reid, H. Hennessy)
• NCF 5.2km 3rd Grade B (S. Naughton, D. McColgan, M. Reid)
FIXTURES
• June 12th - Trinity Track Races (various distances), Trinity College Dublin
• July 17th - Dublin City Council 5km, Irishtown Stadium
• August 14th - BHAA Mile 2013, Irishtown Stadium
For further information, inc. full race results, visit http://esbnet/athleticclub/ and http://sharepoint/sites/Group/CIO/COO/CM/CSM/SC/ESB_Athletic_Club/default.aspx or contact ESB AC c/o Matt Reid: 70-26671; email: matthew.reid@esb.ie.
2013 - Sligo Walk 50th anniversary
THIS YEAR'S SLIGO WALK was again a great success with more than 190 entries. The event was launched by Pat Naughton, Executive Director Group People and Sustainability. The weather was the most challenging of the last 20 years with all seasons represented from bright sunshine to a couple of showers of hail. Nonetheless everybody had a very enjoyable time and the local ESB staff provided much support as usual. All aches and pains were forgotten at the Weary Walkers Ball that evening. A special presentation was made to six of the fifteen walkers who competed in the first Sligo Walk by Pat O'Doherty, Chief Executive.
History of bugo Walk
The first Sligo Walk took place in 1963 but its origins are really more than 3,000 miles away. In early 1963, President John R Kennedy challenged his troops to prove that they were in fine physical condition by walking 50 miles. The President's brother, Robert Kennedy, took up the challenge and walked 50 miles from Great Falls, Maryland to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia along the Potomac River, in ordinary shoes. This challenge caught the mood of a changing America and soon there were long distance walks taking place across the country.
Back in Ireland, ESB was organised in 12 Districts covering the whole country. The Galway District Manager issued a challenge to the Portlaoise District Manager and a walk to Athlone was organised. This took place on the April 6th 1963. Hearing of this, Sligo District promptly issued a challenge to Galway and the first Sligo Walk was conceived. The birth took place on May 24th 1963 when two groups of walkers set out from Sligo and Galway for the finish line in Castlebar - 50 miles away. The Sligo Team Manager for that first walk was District Accountant, the late Joe Moran, who progressed to be Chief Executive of ESB in later years.
The Sligo Walk went from strength to strength over following years and was held every year except from 1968-1973, 1987-1992 and the foot-and-mouth year of 2001. In 1974, a 50km distance was introduced for ladies in addition to the 50 mile distance up to that. The 50 mile distance was abandoned in the late 1980s. In 1998, a 30km distance was introduced and the 50km walk ended in 2008.
NIE ON BOARD FOR VOLUNTEERING
NIE IS RUNNING a scheme alongside a Business in the Community programme that appoints people with business experience to sit on the boards of community and social enterprise organisations. Their business skills and knowledge help the organisation develop. NIE On Board is about giving something back to the local community and developing employees. Participants will learn new skills and take on additional responsibility, acting as board members, and those skills will help employees develop as leaders within NIE.
What is Business in the Community?
Business in the Community is a membership organisation for companies that are committed to doing business responsibly and working together on societal issues where they can make a real difference.
@NIELECTRICITY
NIE'S TWITTER PAGE has been live since February 2013 and proved to be a vital communications tool during the March snow storm (22nd to 25th), where it was used to provide customers with the latest storm information, photos and videos.
Twitter facts
• Most popular link on NIE's Twitter feed was footage of a helicopter patrolling the electricity network during the recent storm. It had 481 clicks.
• NIE Twitter page followers increased form 100 on the March 21st to 2,338 by the March 24th.
• 1 million accounts are added to Twitter every day
• Twitter was seven years old on the March 21st 2013.
ESB TRADING RAISES OVER €10K FOR CHARITY
