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“Disappointing day for Castlecomer” as town’s Wellie Race is cancelled

Organisers are hopeful it can be reimagined as a virtual event

The Castlecomer Wellie Race will not be going ahead next year.

The popular event was due to take place in January 2021, but organisers have decided to cancel it due to ongoing Covid restrictions.

The town’s Wellie Race Committee will meet next week to discuss the possibility of instead holding a virtual event to mark the annual occasion.

Committee PRO Chubby Brennan says the cancellation is sad news for Castlecomer:

“This year the traditional Castlecomer float and fancy dress parade, and the 5k Wellie Race, will not proceed on January 1st. However we will be having a meeting on Monday night, where we’ll discuss someway that we can have a virtual race or do something so that we can help charities. Until that meeting I’m afraid that’s all the news I have, so it’s a disappointing day for Castlecomer. But I think as a committee, we are making the right, correct and proper decision” he shared with KCLR News.

It was a tough call for the committee to call off the Wellie Race, as the event is now a well-established tradition for the town. Chubby explained that next year’s race would have been its 41st celebration;

“We’ve ran it for 40 years. It didn’t matter whatever fell from the skies or what happened, we always managed to have a fantastic day in Castlecomer. But this [Covid] is quite serious and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere so we’ve got to go online along with other organisations and sports events that have been cancelled because of Covid.”