Emotional Limerick event remembers loved ones in community on southside

AN INTERNATIONAL mountain runner led a lap of honour through his community ahead of jetting off to France to represent Ireland at a European Championship.

John Kinsella, who hails from Southill, is currently in Annecy, France, where he is running for Ireland in the European Athletics Mountain Running Championship.

Before jetting off, he carried out a training session for the community in the estate where the 42-year-old was born and raised.

Dozens of people were in attendance at the event, and wished him well on his impending trip to the continent.

He designed a route around Southill to mark locations of well-loved community champions who he’d grown up with, and are sadly no longer with us.

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John, who started running in a bid to lose weight, has run marathons across the world - including the top five events in Boston, Berlin, New York, Chicago, London and Tokyo. He’s broken many Irish speed records in the process.

His preparation for big events always starts at home in Southill, however.

Jogging in the area, he says: “Gives me great energy and perseverance when the going gets tough.”

And even on the racetrack, he never forgets where is from, as he proudly wears a sleeve, which contains the names of youngsters from Southill who have died at far too young an age.