Club Charity POKER RUN 20th July 2025

Nessa Waldron the club charity coordinator once again, along with Chris Hill organised this year's charity Poker Run. Due to torrential rain early in the day attendance was severely affected with numbers way down.

A request wishing all participants a safe journey was played on RTE Radio 1 , Rising Time at 7.45am.

The run started at the Maxol service station, Turvey, junction 4….M1. Nessa, her daughter Sibeal and grandson Odhran were there checking everyone in. It was nice to have Laurence Boland’s wife Jackie there along with some of the extended family and grandchildren, who by the way made their own donation to the fund. Several riders turned up at the start, paid their entry fee and went home.

The second check point at Mace, Clogherhead was manned by Dee McGinn and all were checked in with no problems. The weather was improving at this stage and all was looking good. From there they rode to The Circle K , Kells. This was manned by Stephen Whelan and myself. Locals were curious as to what we were at with our table and parasol at the side of the building.

While waiting for the riders to arrive Stephen was chatting away to some of them. One man told him that Jesus appeared to him while praying his rosary…..he was serious. He was a fresh looking man of 85 years. Another lovely woman who looked mid 60’s but was actually 87, went down memory lane recalling two happy marriages, and was now a widow. We both commented on how friendly we Irish are. Having recently spent time in Hungary he said the people there were the opposite to us, not very friendly. There is never a dull moment when Whelo is about, he would talk to “Nick the Divil”.

From Kells they took the N52 to Killucan stopping at the Kinnegad Plaza where Paul Dixon was on duty. With everyone checked in some riders headed for home while the majority headed for the finish in Delaney’s pub, Knocklyon. Some members with Classic Japanese bikes arrived to make their donations. Laurence’s friend Ray came riding his classic 500cc Suzuki two stroke. Several others also turned up to make donations.

With everyone back the winners were announced.

1st. Best hand……..Garrett Mahon.

2nd. Best hand ……Michael Coyne.

3rd. Best hand…….Simon Porter.

John Griffin once again kindly sponsored the prize money……Thank you John, much appreciated.

To Nessa and Chris a huge “Thank You” for the effort they put into this event. All the unseen costs were borne by both of them.

The same goes to Dee, Stephen, Paul, Cormac and Sibeal who manned the check points. A big thanks also to those who braved the elements and rode it.

I don’t mind admitting that while driving on the M50 / M3 going to Kells check point I was glad to be in the car.

The total run was approx 175km (official route).

While the numbers were down on last year, the donations were up, which is after all what the Poker Run is about.

Total raised on the day……€2,350 . John Dunne waiting for bank details to get the total of EFT,s.

Jim