Flying Irish running club runs for fun
There are runners that take their sport seriously. And there are those who don’t. Most likely, nary the twain shall meet.
Except that is every Thursday night, rain or shine, at O’Doherty’s Irish Grille in downtown Spokane. That’s where the Flying Irish running club congregates for an evening of running and reveling.
The group’s founder, Peter Breach, turned the pages of the club’s history all the way back to March 23, 2006, when the first run was held.
“We were looking to do some improvements to the Bloomsday Runners Web page,” Breach said. Doing some research, Breach found a group in Florida that met in and ran out of an Irish pub.
“I’d known the O’Doherty family for a number of years,” Breach said. “(I) thought it was a good way for them to grow their business as well as develop something for the downtown area.”
Collectively there have been more than 1,800 people who have participated in the weekly 3-mile routes. The largest single run drew about 112.
The goal is to get some exercise, have some fun and finally be “shirted,” after their sixth run.
Participants congregate at O’Doherty’s each Thursday at 5:45 in preparation for the 6 p.m. start. “Run or walk. Walkers are welcome. They do whatever they are up to,” Breach said. Each week’s route is a secret until runners ready for the start. There are six different courses.
The choice as to whether they do “Hill Run” to Corbin Art Center; the Museum Run, which is down to the MAC around Coeur d’Alene Park and back; over to Mission Park and back for the Zag Run or a number of others, is generally up to one of the runners earning a shirt, Breach explained.
The number six seems to have significance and there’s a reason. “It’s the number six of Al Kaline. He’s the famous Irishman who played for the Detroit Tigers,” Breach said. “We decided six runs and you earn a shirt.”
Well, six runs and one more little thing. “Since Tim (O’Doherty) is an Irish Catholic, as am I, an Irish Catholic ritual is standing up on a bar and telling an Irish joke. Seemed like the perfect ritual,” Breach reasoned.
Rules do get overlooked from time to time, Breach pointed out. “Tim said at the beginning of the year, ‘Fudging your way to the truth of getting a shirt is not a problem,’ ” Breach said.
Showing up and walking around the block six times can get you the sought-after shirt. “It’s about participation. Health. It’s a social outlet,” Breach said.
Recently shirted runner Rachel Dibble, of Colbert, loves both aspects of the runs. “It is an honor. Only so many people have them (shirts). Not everybody does. And I get half off on beers on Thursday night. That’s even better.”