Run to Africa to take place from Athlone!

In the last week or so, there has been a colourful and sizeable exhibition of entries to a children"s colouring competition displayed in the Golden Island Shopping Centre. The competition is part of next weekend"s Discover Athlone event. But it"s not the only addition the centre will experience in the coming few days. Glendeer Pet Farm will host a special pets corner in Golden Island to coincide with Discover Athlone day and as well as animals visitors to the ever-popular centre will also witness locals helping to complete a Run to Africa. The Tesco store in Golden Island Shopping Centre will be the location for two treadmills next weekend as participants help to complete a virtual run of 9,500km between Ireland and Ethiopia is being organised by the Playing for Life charity and it will take place nationwide throughout the weekend. People will be encouraged to raise as much money as they can and then run their kilometre at a selected time over the course of the weekend in the store. All the treadmills will be linked to a central computer and the combined progress of the run will be displayed on a screen in each store. Founder of the Playing for Life charity is RTE broadcaster Tracy Piggott and she is appealing for everyone to make their way to a treadmill over the course of the weekend to help Run to Africa. 'This is a chance for everyone all over Ireland to be a part of a truly unique fundraising attempt. To be able to raise a substantial amount of money through this for Playing for Life would go a long way to improving the lives of so many people in Africa and help us continue to educate and build futures for those whose don"t have one at the moment,' Tracy said.