Running with purpose

In 2005, Mark Rooney placed an ad in Issue 182 of GCN, sparking the foundation of Dublin Front Runners. 20 years later, the two organisations are teaming up again for a very special charity partnership. Alice Linehan tells us more. Photo by Willian Belolli.

Sport — Running — Community

“New Dublin based social/running club for gay men and women. All levels welcome.” This simple callout in the Sport & Social Groups section of GCN’s February 2005 issue encouraged three Irish people and one German to lace up their shoes for that first Saturday session. It was a humble beginning, and admittedly, it took a while for the group to really get off the ground. At the end of the year, there were just 10 members, and founder Mark Rooney wasn’t sure if it would survive.

“Thankfully, [they] stuck with it, and the following year, they had 30 members,” current Chairperson Mark Armstrong told the crowd at The GALAS Awards in 2024, as Dublin Front Runners collected the prize in the Sports category.

20 years on, it has grown into Ireland’s biggest LGBTQ+ athletics club with over 500 members. It currently hosts three sessions a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, catering to all levels from walking to 10Ks and even interval training. It also boasts a great social scene, between post-run coffees and trips around the country and abroad.

“What makes Dublin Front Runners so special is that sense of community, that sense of belonging,” Armstrong said in an interview with GCN. “The most important thing is you can be yourself. You can express yourself the way you are. You can just be yourself and be in a very safe environment with no judgment. You can enjoy a run with like-minded people in your community.”

Armstrong himself joined the club nine years ago, as he was looking “for something outside the pub scene” to get involved in, while getting fit at the same time.

“I did a marathon in 2010, my first marathon, in like five hours and 40 minutes. It was horrendous. I hated every minute of it,” he remembered. “When you’re that young, you think, ‘Oh sure, a marathon is fine. I can do anything.’ So I hadn’t trained for it… It was after that then that I wanted to get involved a bit more and actually start training.”

For those looking to improve their fitness, Mark says the club has a “huge impact”.

“You really get to learn how to run properly. We’ve two Athletics Ireland trainers, Susan Walsh and Michael Walsh, that train us on Wednesdays, both on the track and interval training. And then they also do a massive programme around training for a marathon…

“But also, there’s a community there that doesn’t like to do big, big runs. They like to do their 5K, and we also have a walking group as well and a Slow&Gentle 5K.”

He urges anyone interested to “just come, find out what we’re all about”. While you do need a baseline level of fitness, the club runs a free Couch to 5K programme to help ease people in. This year, they started in April, with over 100 LGBTQ+ folk and allies signing up.

“We’re one of the very few free Couch to 5K programmes,” Mark explains. “We do it all for free with an eight-week programme, and that’s been kindly sponsored by Boots Ireland. We’re very thankful for Boots coming on board to help people get fit, literally from the couch to 5K.”

It’s clear that there is “plenty of space for everyone,” no matter their ability. It is also open to all sexualities and genders, at a time when participation in sports is becoming increasingly restricted.

GCN Issue 182, February 2005

“There’s space for non-binary and trans members that we have in the club. We’ve also done a lot of work with making sure, with the minorities within our club, that we are looking after them, that we are showing up for them, that they feel included,” Mark explained.

It’s a great opportunity for connection, not just at the runs in Phoenix Park or the races across Ireland. Dublin Front Runners is under the wider Front Runners umbrella, which was first founded in San Francisco in 1974. “You can go anywhere in the world, find a Front Runners, like in Washington, in Amsterdam, in all these big cities, and run with like-minded people,” Mark notes.

Feargus, who joined the club earlier this year, reflected on his experience so far: “A couple of my housemates had been in it and then they had moved away—one of them’s in London, one of them’s in Galway—but they said it was a lot of fun and I was actually running a good bit anyway. I guess, when you’re running, so much of the time it’s just by yourself. So sometimes it’s nice to actually run with a group of people as well, just to mix it up a bit.

“It’s good fun! They have lots of different groups on the Saturday morning, so whether you want to do a slow 5 kilometres, you can do that, but then they have a faster-paced 5K, an 8K and a 10K. So you can do different distances if you want to. And it’s friendly, people go for coffee afterwards and you chat away.”

Former member Deirdre joined the club in 2007. At the time, she was thinking of stopping playing hockey, and a friend recommended that she take up running. “I rocked up on a Wednesday evening in April… It was one of those really packed days, so it was about 50 people, which was very unusual because normally they had small numbers. I think it was a good weather evening and people rocked up to the park. I think Mark [Rooney] himself got a bit of a fright! Then I decided to go back and got to really enjoy it.”

She explained, “They kind of held my hand through it because I’d been a goalie in hockey, so I had never run the length of myself even.” By June that year, she completed the Women’s Mini-Marathon, which she remembers as one of her highlights.

“Getting to do a 10K after two months, I felt it was quite an achievement. To go from three laps of the hockey pitch to 10K in basically two months, that was a biggie.” Deirdre also went on to run a marathon in 2014.

Although golf is now her main focus, she can’t stress enough the benefit that sport has had on her life. “As I got older, I became more aware of my physical health and my mental wellbeing. When the hockey season ended, I always had this—even though it was summer—I had the blues, and I didn’t know what it was.”

As she approached her retirement from hockey, she realised she needed to keep exercising for her mental health. “The feeling of joy and freedom and getting the buzz from a run, I never thought I’d do it, I never thought I’d feel that in my life. So to get that ‘runner’s high’ as they call it, it was great.”

While Deirdre was one of the only women involved in the club in those early days, there are over 70 women registered in 2025.

Beyond the health and social impacts of Dublin Front Runners, charity is also at the heart of the club. As Mark explains, “Our most important thing is giving back to the community that has supported us with either coming out or our own life struggles. We’ve raised over €270,000 now for charities and good causes within Ireland.”

They do this through their annual Dublin Pride Run. It’s not just an ordinary 5K race, it’s a celebration of movement, energy and physical activity. The occasion champions inclusivity, identity, self-expression and queerness in an open, friendly, safe space, allowing participants to be themselves and connect with others in the LGBTQ+ community, alongside friends, family and loved ones. Whether aiming to beat a personal best or looking to walk, jog or run your first 5K, everyone is invited to join in and raise much-needed funds for worthy causes.

The charity partners for the 2025 event, taking place on Friday, June 13, are GCN, LGBT Ireland and Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI).

“Now more than ever, we need to support good causes and charities that are doing amazing work within our community,” Mark shared. This year, Dublin Front Runners wants to raise €100,000 total for its chosen charities. If every entrant raises as little as €50, this target can be reached.

Speaking about being a charity partner for the 2025 Dublin Pride Run, GCN Manager Stefano Pappalardo said: “We are absolutely delighted... For over 35 years, GCN has been Ireland’s LGBTQ+ paper of record and a free resource to inform, connect, and advocate for our community. With rising misinformation and attacks on our communities, independent queer media is more vital than ever. Funds raised from the Pride Run will directly support printing GCN magazine for a full year, ensuring it reaches those who rely on it most.”

He added, “This partnership is especially meaningful as the club was founded through an ad in GCN all the way back in 2005. This feels like a powerful full-circle moment, and we want to say a huge thank you to Dublin Front Runners and everyone taking part in the Dublin Pride Run—your support means the world!”

For more information about Dublin Front Runners, visit dublinfrontrunners.ie. The Dublin Pride Run 2025 takes place on Friday, June 13. Find out more at priderun.ie.