Women Get Your Runners Ready!
Updated : Apr 7, 2009
RTE 2FM’s Ruth Scott, Dublin’s 98 Siobhan O’Connor, TV3’s Sinead Kissane & Aisling O’Toole from Woman’s Way prepare for this year’s
Flora Women’s Mini Marathon
Dublin, Monday 6 April 2009: Organisers of the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon are calling on ladies all over Ireland to lace up and take part in this year’s event in a bid to encourage everyone to become heart healthy for 2009, whilst raising valuable funds for Irish charities.
As part of this activity, Flora has brought together a group of media personalities, Team Flora, who will take part in this year’s race along with 40,000 other energetic ladies on June Bank Holiday Monday.
Lacing up ahead of this year’s Flora Women’s Mini Marathon is Ruth Scott from RTE 2FM, Dublin 98’s Siobhan O’Connor and TV3’s Sinead Kissane, whilst Aisling O’Toole from Woman’s Way is making her debut to the team this year.
Speaking ahead of this year’s race, Ruth Scott said, “I’m really looking forward to taking part in the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon again. I’ve run it for the last number of years, and each year has proved to be a real eye opener for me. Not only do I actually enjoy taking part on the day; training for it is a great way to become fit. It also makes me more conscious of my diet, and I try to ensure I eat a healthy and balanced diet when training.
Siobhan O’Connor from Dublin’s 98 added, “The Flora Women’s Mini Marathon is a great way to get outside and get running, and in turn you’ll become more fit and healthy. Now that the evenings are getting longer, I’m more inclined to get out and about and I can’t wait to cross the finish line again this year!â€
Before committing to taking part in this year’s event, the four ladies met with Dr. Patricia Heavey, the Flora Consultant Nutritionist. She tested their total cholesterol levels and found they each had a cholesterol level of in the region of 5mmol/l which is healthy.
Aisling’s cholesterol was 5.02 mmol/l which can be regarded as high. In order to reduce her cholesterol, it is recommended that Aisling make some changes to her diet, such as switching from saturated fats like butter, to low fat spreads like Flora.
Dr. Heavey also tested the age of their hearts with the Flora Heart Age Tool. This tool can be found on www.florahearts.ie or on www.florawomensminimarathon.ie. By answering a series of lifestyle and health related questions, one can calculate the age of their heart, and the Heart Age Tool will make personal recommendations on how you can make positive lifestyle changes to improve the health of your heart.
Dr. Heavey found that each of two of the Team Flora members were younger than their actual years. Ruth is aged 35 but her heart age is 29 and Sinead, aged 30, had a heart age of 25, which is excellent.
Meanwhile, Siobhan who is aged, 30 has a heart rate of 35, whilst Aisling, who is aged 28, has a heart age of 29. Siobhan’s heart age is higher that her actual age due to her being a smoker. Speaking about this, Siobhan said, “Now that I know my heart age is older than my own age, I’m even more encouraged to keep up with my training for the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon. I’d really encourage women all over Ireland to consider taking part. It’s so much fun, you always feel a real sense of achievement when you cross the finish line, and it’s great to be out there with 40,000 other women, doing your bit for charity.â€
Niamh Lennon, Flora Brand Manager, said, “Taking part in an event like this is an ideal way to become more heart healthy and fit. In Flora, we encourage all women to get involved as part of our ‘Love Your Heart’ campaign. This encourages heart health awareness. We also like to encourage people to adopt a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise. People can log onto www.florahearts.ie to check out the Flora Heart Age tool, and top tips on caring for your heart.â€
Log onto www.florawomensminimarathon.ie today to register! Entry forms are available in the Evening Herald every Wednesday and Saturday. Those considering taking part in this year’s event, are reminded to get their entries in as soon as possible. The closing date for receipt of entry is Tuesday 21 April (or sooner if the maximum number is reached).
Flora is also offering ladies all over the country the chance to win additional funds for their charity. Each week Flora is running a competition on www.florawomensminimarathon.ie to help with fundraising efforts. Answer a simple question and be in with a chance to win €100 for your charity.
VeryHappyPig is going to get a sex change and run this dam marathon!
