YESTERDAY, THIRTY THOUSAND women took to the streets of Dublin to complete the annual VHI Women’s Mini Marathon.
Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC in Cork crossed the finish line first, having completed 10k in a time of just 34.18, followed closely by Laura O’Shaughnessy and Siobhan O’Doherty.
Naturally, social media was absolutely awash with pictures of jubilant runners clutching medals and celebrating in the aftermath of the run, but as the evening progressed talk on Twitter turned to the goodie bags.
And people are not impressed.
Why? Well, they contain little more than a dishwasher tablet and some laundry detergent.
And here’s what Twitter had to say on it.
A week after we #Repealedthe8th - the most momentous act for equality and freedom in the history of the state, #VHIWMM thought this was appropriate for the goodie bag. Not impressed #VHIMiniMarathon, not impressed. pic.twitter.com/QXZS6p38Fj
— Gaye Edwards 💛💚💜 (@BrennanGaye) June 3, 2018
Whose bright idea was it to put cleaning product samples in the goodie bag? It was a fantastic day up until finding out the organisers still think it's 1950s..... a massive insult to the women who took part in today's event #VHIWMM
— Sara Turnbull (@RoxySara83) June 3, 2018
Women's mini marathon goodie bag had a dishwasher table and some washing powder in it, which I think I'll feck at the next person who says "Well done, geeeerls".#VHIWMM
— Fiona Kenny (@FionaKenny1) June 3, 2018
Could not believe what I was seeing when I opened the goodie bag at #VHIwmm. A dishwasher tablet and a sample of Persil laundry detergent ⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️
— Seána Carty (@SeanaCarty) June 3, 2018
#VhiWMM What every woman wants in their goodie bag TUT TUT not impressed pic.twitter.com/IzNqArufsS
— Annette Butler (@nettybutler) June 3, 2018
Can’t wait to use the cleaning products from my #VHIWMM goodie bag. Women love cleaning right?
— Aoibhinn (@aoibhinndixon) June 3, 2018
Loved the #VhiWMM today- such agreat atmosphere and I ran with a great group of women- goodie bag was full of cleaning products - not sure if I know what to do with them? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/FueVrxrvQi
— Lynette Fay (@LynetteFay) June 3, 2018
Great day thanks to everyone who helped with the #VHIWMM - loved the atmosphere, the weather, the music, the cheers and claps, and especially those firefighters and their hoses ! But the goodie bag - wow, dish washer tablets and detergent !! Seriously ???
— Rachel Borrill (@Rachel_Borrill) June 3, 2018
In light of the response to the goodie bags a statement has been issued by the Women’s Mini Marathon.
The race organisers of Women’s Mini Marathon are happy to provide a Race Bag to all participants every year. This is one of the most popular parts of the event every year, and we strive to give all participants a selection of free, quality products. These range from food and drink items to household and lifestyle items. Our sponsors have no input into the contents of the race bag.
We understand that some participants were unhappy with the inclusion of dishwasher tablet and laundry detergent samples in the race bag, equally we have received positive feedback from the majority of the 30,000 women who took part in the event.
We have included similar items in previous years, which have been well received, but understand the concerns raised by some women given the context. We welcome feedback from all of our participants, and will continue to listen and take on board the feedback which we receive each year.
