Athletics ambassador Frank Greally has told people who have lost loved ones that “you can’t run away from grief” and urged them to connect with family and friends while they can. Mr Greally (73), whose brother Gerard (82) died last April, is the man behind the annual 5km Remembrance Run, which takes place in the Phoenix Park tomorrow. He last saw Gerard at a train station in the Blue Mountains on a trip to Australia in May last year.
“If I have a message to share at the launch of this year’s Remembrance Run 5k walk or run event, it’s to reach out to family and dear friends and do the things you need and wish to do while you can still do them,” he said. The run was created 13 years ago by Mr Greally, from Mayo, to honour the memory of sports journalist Con Houlihan. This year, it will be even more poignant for him following the death of his brother.
“You can’t run away from grief. It’ll certainly catch up with you anyway,” he said. “We all have a real primal thing in us, which is that we don’t want to be forgotten.
“The last time I saw my brother before he died was at the train station in Katoomba. It was great because we got to walk and talk about everything together.” Music, choirs, poetry and a special wall of remembrance, on which participants write names and messages to loved ones, are just some of the elements that make the Remembrance Run a unique experience.
Actor Phelim Drew will be a special guest and will read from an essay tribut.
