There was an old saying in corporate life, that your best day in any job is the first day, I suppose while you’re still enthusiastic and optimistic and before reality sets in. Well I’m about six months into the role of CEO of Sanctuary Runners now and I completely disagree. Over this lovely May bank
There was an old saying in corporate life, that your best day in any job is the first day, I suppose while you’re still enthusiastic and optimistic and before reality sets in.
Well I’m about six months into the role of CEO of Sanctuary Runners now and I completely disagree.
Over this lovely May bank holiday weekend, I’ve been seeing a steady stream of photos and videos from events around the country. Starting on Saturday with scenes from parkruns, then on Sunday with the Great Limerick Run and the Dublin City Half Marathon, and Monday the NW 10k in Letterkenny.
Mbali in Blue wig and pompoms, ready to be the most enthusiastic supporter in Clontarf, Mahamed celebrating his 50th parkrun at Poppintree in Ballymun, Great Limerick Run entries and t-shirts lined up neatly by Niall and Nkosi waiting for collection, the famous Fairview jump spreading to Dodder Valley in Tallaght (still needs some practice), the Letterkenny crew getting ready to support their speed merchants and so many photos of people excited ready to get running or with a satisfied tired look after finishing their first half marathon, 6 miles or even parkrun!
Beyond the big events, there were some lovely small moments this weekend too: Adenike who just made the big move from Buncrana to Cork getting a warm welcome to our Mallow group; Aileen and Niamh bringing a new member from Ballyogan IPAS to Dodder Valley in Tallaght and he’s keen to come back next week.
And that’s all this weekend. A little bit busier than usual with big running events around the country, but the energy and positivity is constant!
I’m one of those people who’s hard on myself about what I haven’t done yet, all the opportunities I’m not getting to, so it’s good to remind myself what the Sanctuary Runners team has achieved in the last 6 months.
When I was about 10 days into this role, we had the honour of wishing President Higgins well as he left the Aras. On a freezing November night, we wondered if enough Sanctuary Runners would come along, but what a sight it was, hundreds of people in Sanctuary Blue lining the exit from the Aras, some came all the way from Fermoy. President Higgins was a patron of our movement and everyone felt so privileged to be there. It was a very special night.
We’ve completed and launched our new strategic plan: Making Strides for Solidarity. Developing the plan was painful at times, I admit, but it included perspectives from our groups, partners, staff and Board, which made it very valuable. And it gives us a great road map for sustaining and growing our groups over the next few years. We were joined by members, friends and supporters to launch it at Europe House in February, with Ray D’Arcy generously giving his time to MC the event.
On the international front, we were thrilled to see Sanctuary Runners Australia getting started in Sydney in March, under the leadership of Paul Power, CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia. He’s putting us all to shame though by baking muffins to bring to parkrun every week!
And we had a team of 33 Sanctuary Runners complete the London Marathon in April, thanks to London Marathon Foundation community entries. It was inspiring to see people from Ireland, England, many different nationalities form bonds as they trained together (virtually) and ran together on the day. They will always be a community because they now have their London Marathon medals in common! Our Brighton group was very well represented and we have now added a group in Bristol with a new one almost ready to launch in Kingston Upon Thames in London. Under Graham’s leadership, Sanctuary Runners GB will no doubt continue to grow.
As anyone in a charity knows, securing sustainable funding is an ongoing challenge. In 2025, we were chosen as a charity partner of PTSB and in January we were delighted to accept significant funding, much of it raised by the staff on our behalf. And for the first time, we’ve had runners fundraising for us for London and Cork marathons. We appreciate every contribution – the money raised allows us to continue to fund group costs, including providing t-shirts to all our members. We don’t charge membership fees or for our iconic blue t-shirts as we don’t ever want to turn anyone away, which is why fundraising is so important.
There are so many positives to talk about in the Sanctuary Runners movement, but we can’t ignore the context we operate in. This year is tougher than ever for people seeking international protection in Ireland, with the new migration bill being enacted. Changes such as delayed family reunification will make community integration more difficult. The recent announcement that people with the right to remain need to leave their IPAS accommodation is very challenging for the thousands that are affected, especially with the homelessness crisis. We have called for the long-delayed national integration strategy to be introduced (still no sign of it after 5 years), and we will continue to do our best to use our voice to advocate for community integration and to support the rights and dignity of migrants in Ireland.
As well as a more challenging policy environment, far-right narratives have become more common and along with them, anti-migrant abuse and violence. Our groups rally together to give each other support and the safety of our members is always a top priority for us.
While the anti-migrant voices are loud and aggressive, we have to remember that they do not represent a majority in Ireland at all. In fact, it’s the opposite. A new survey from the Hope & Courage Collective has shown that 66% of the Irish public “agree that immigrants contribute positively to Irish culture and community” and that number is trending upward. And a massive 77% agree “that people seeking international protection should be supported to become part of the communities they live in”.
This tells us that the vast majority of people support what we are doing. And we have seen that directly: since the start of 2026 our numbers are growing. We have 12 live requests from different locations around the country to establish new groups. Our Community Development team, led by Annie, is working with locals to support the development of new and existing groups.
We know that most people are sound! We see that every day in support from local athletics clubs and Athletics Ireland, from Canoeing Ireland and paddling clubs. And from other sports in the future, no doubt.
So was my first day the best day? Not by a long shot. I’ve had so many ‘best days’ in the last 6 months – from the gates of the Aras to the hill of the O’Neill with a new group in Dungannon, to seeing the tired but happy faces of Sanctuary Runners after the London marathon, to walking around Ardee with our lovely group there, to our strategic plan launch event where we got so excited we almost forgot to present the actual plan.
And we have so much to look forward to for the rest of 2026, including the return of the National Sanctuary Run in October, which will bring people together to celebrate. And of course the Cork marathon at the end of May where Sanctuary Runners began and where we’ll have a massive presence again this year.
When people ask me, how do you like your new(ish) job, I tell them, I love it, it’s full of joy and positivity, I get to work with great people and meet great people and we have so many laughs. It’s a privilege!
Thanks everyone!
Anna
anna@sanctuaryrunners.ie
“We Run as One”
Solidarity, Friendship, Respect
