The Sanctuary Runners was established in Cork in February, 2018 by feature writer and broadcaster Graham Clifford and photographer Clare Keogh. With the support of Cork City Council, and The Tomar Trust, a team of 200 participated in the Cork City Marathon (2018) which included 51-people from across the five different Direct Provision centres in Cork. The team spanned 40 nationalities. A year later 360 Sanctuary Runners took part in the race and in 2020.
It was our hope to have 1,000 Sanctuary Runners at this year’s Cork City Marathon but Covid19 meant that wouldn’t be. Still in this amazing video made by Clare Keogh you’ll see that we ran in our own way as a team – Apart but As One.
Our team includes Olympians such as Olive Loughnane, Rob and Marian Heffernan and Clare Lambe – and we’ve had support from stars of the track such as Sonia O’Sullivan, Lizzie Lee and Gillian O’Sullivan and GAA legend Tomas O’Sé