Jog in the Bog returns this Sunday!

It has arrived a few months later than scheduled but the 2023 Jog in the Bog event will finally happen this Sunday.

Traditionally a part of Feile, organisers made the decision to postpone this year's event due to Derry City FC's prolonged Europa Conference League schedule to avoid a Thursday clash in the Bogside.

But time has raced by since and the crazy popular 5k event will now take place this coming weekend. With hundreds already registered online and plenty more sure to follow in the coming days, excitement is again building ahead of one the the Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum's most important events.

Ciaran Lockhart, from the Forum, explained that the change in date has not hampered the interest in the event at all.

"It's helped in a way too because I know in the last few weeks, ourselves and a couple of other community organisations have started up 'Couch to 5K' s," he explained. "I think a lot of people have taken advantage of that as training for Jog in the Bog.

"Normally it takes place on the week of the Feile, but this year we postponed it because Derry City were on their European cup run and there was a clash at the time with one of the fixtures. We knew it was going to be really hectic in terms of parking and traffic and all that, so we decided to delay it until later in the year, so this is the first time it is on in October."

Describing it as a 'community race for the community that helps the community', Ciaran agrees that the numbers involved every year, and the message behind the 5K is all important, especially at the end of a week which saw 'World Mental Health Day' celebrated.

"Where Jog in the Bog happens is really important too," he explained. "We hold the race in memory of Danny Quigley's father Colm and we love the fact that it happens right in the heart of the community where a lot of our services take place.

"It's a real community 5k, and the best thing about it is we would have seasoned runners doing it every year because it's a regular fixture for them. You will also have people there doing a 5K for the first time and it's those people as well who we are trying to encourage, to take up running for the first time just to get involved.

"Everybody who registers for Jog in the Bog – that money goes back into our Health Forum services so it goes back into things like our mental health counselling, so it's a community race for the community that helps the community."

Registration at O'Neill's

While registrations for the event are closed online, those interested can still visit O'Neill's in Waterloo Place before Sunday.

"I think we have a few hundred registered at the minute," Ciaran continued. "We just closed online registration this week, but our team are down in O'Neill's in Waterloo Street all this week for people to collect their race packs, and you can also still register this week in-store.

"O'Neill's have been brilliant every year and this year is no different. They give us great support and they are also running offers for people in-store, for those who register for Jog in the Bog; they have a line of half-zips and shorts and tracksuit bottoms and they are doing them at discounted price, so it's great having that relationship with them too."

It's not all about the 5K this Sunday, with Ciaran revealing a special additional event for the kids. 

"We've also got a Superheroes race too, which is basically a 1k for kids, so they can just register on the day and we're encouraging all the kids to dress up as their favourite superhero," he said. "Maybe they're even planning on using their Halloween costume, and even if they don't have a costume on the day, we have loads of spare costumes to get them dressed up. That's really good because it encourages children to think about their physical and mental health too by taking part."