It’s time to grab those running shoes and get running with Will Faulkner from Midlands 103!

Lough Boora Running Group are going to be back again for their 4th annual Run with Will 10km race, and 5k run, jog and walk.

The race is due to take place on Sunday 3rd April 2016 at 11am. You can register before the event online at www.myrunresults.com, costing €15 for the 10k race and €10 for the 5k run. You can also register on the day at Teach Lea on the way into Lough Boora Discovery Park from 9.30am. If you register on the day it is €20 to enter the 10k race and €15 to enter the 5k run. All proceeds from the race will go towards Dóchas, Irish Autism Action and Offaly School of Special Education.

This race is chipped, so all runner’s times are official, and is approved by the Athletic Association of Ireland. For more information contact John (087 628 0160) or Paul (086 324 8086).

Explore Bord na Móna’s Lough Boora Discovery Park as it celebrates 75 years of Industrial Heritage this National Heritage Week. To mark Bord na Móna’s expansion beyond peat harvesting, National Heritage Week kicks off with a special commemorative event taking place in the stunning Lough Boora Discovery Park, Co Offaly on August 22nd 2016 from 12pm-4pm.

Lough Boora Discovery Park is the award-winning public amenity that showcases Bord na Móna’s commitment to biodiversity and peatland rehabilitation.

Come along and celebrate, share and enjoy 75 years of Industrial Heritage with a fun-filled family day featuring entertainment for all ages and artisan food stalls filled with mouth-watering local produce to whet the appetite. Keeping the kids entertained on the day will be the Super Sticky Glitter Bomb arts and crafts workshop, innovative windmill making workshops, a butterfly and dragonfly crafts area where children will be using recycled materials, super spy scavenger hunts, bouncing castles, a magic show and toy peddle tractors for the younger attendees. For some educational fun children will also learn how to grow their own Sunflowers in the colourful gardening section.

Visitors to Lough Boora Discovery Park will also get the opportunity to become familiar with historical Bord na Móna machinery from eras past with the Bord na Móna Heartland Expo looking back on and celebrating over 75 years of history in the local community.

National Heritage Week takes place from August 22nd to 30th. This year the week-long celebration will play tribute to the Irish industrial and design heritage that has paved the way for the world we live in today.

Bord na Móna is a responsible and progressive Irish company with an unrivalled heritage which we are celebrating during National Heritage Week.

For free registration for this event please click here

Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for more information.

Prepare to discover and explore Bord na Móna’s Lough Boora Discovery Park as it is transformed into a cycling frenzy to celebrate National Bike Week this June!

Taking place on Sunday 21st June from 12 noon until 4pm, Bord na Móna is inviting families and cycling fanatics to join them for a huge range of fun-filled activities for the whole family, while also taking the opportunity to explore the spectacular cycle trails Lough Boora Discovery Park is renowned for.

Exciting activities on the day will include a Superhero fancy dress bike race, a slow bike race – the only rule is that cyclists must keep moving!, a thrilling obstacle course packed with plenty of surprises and a tight rope contest with prizes for the winners. Lough Boora’s resident Bike Doctor Pat Barrett will also be on hand to offer tips to attendees on how to maintain their bicycles, along with the need-to-know advice on how to fix punctures and how to adjust saddles. For families that don’t have their own bikes, there will also be a bike hire service available. You can also hire a baby trailer that hook onto the back of the bike which is suitable for 2 younger children up to 5 years.

As well as the thrilling cycling activities, there will also be a number of exciting events for younger attendees to enjoy including a Lough Boora Superhero Competition where kids get to dress up as their favourite superhero and be in with a chance of winning a fantastic prize for the best costume. There will also be face painting, balloon modellers and a bike safari along the Pavillion and the spectacular Sculpture Trail.

Sara Byrne, Bord na Móna, said of the upcoming event: ‘We’re delighted to be hosting this Family fun day on Sunday 21st June as part of National Bike Week. Lough Boora Discovery Park has cycling routes from 3km to 50km so we have something for all ages and abilities. Bring your own bike or hire one at the visitor centre to get involved in the fun activities that we have planned on the day”.

Anyone wishing to attend the event can register here.

Please note: Bike hire will be on a first come, first serve basis. Registering will not ensure that a bike will be kept aside for you.

Whatever the time of day, Lough Boora has plenty of beauty to be seen!

Local landscape photographer, David T Kavanagh, will have his ‘Boora – Dawn to Dusk’ exhibition in the Visitor Centre at Lough Boora Discovery Park from the 20th  of May to the 2nd of June.  The exhibition features a collection of his favourite photographs captured in the Discovery Park over the past twelve months.

David says “Lough Boora is one of my favourite places in Offaly to take photos. It is so accessible; just a few steps from the carpark and you are transported into a unique environment featuring lakes, wetland, sculptures and trails”. He added “a key attraction for me is the effect that big skies have on the expansive terrain of Lough Boora. The changing skies paint the park in a range of subtle colours. I am lucky to be able to experience the light at its best – at dawn and at dusk”. The images on display feature the tranquillity of the area and aim to show familiar subjects in the extraordinary light that is to be experienced at the start and end of each day. The award-winning Visitor Centre is open every day from 10am to 6pm.
David T Kavanagh is an outdoor photographer, based in Tullamore, who specialises in capturing images of the landscape of Offaly and surrounding counties. He is a member of Offaly Crafty – the Art & Design Collective supported by the Offaly Local Enterprise Office.
For further information, David may be contacted on 085 8618929 or by email at davidtkavanaghphotography@gmail.com.