Ras
na hEireann, which shares its Gaelic name with a cross-country race in
Ireland, attracted participants from all over Massachusetts, and about
30 from Ireland, where the Somerville event made news. The race was won
by Irishman Mark Carroll, who has been touted as Ireland's top long
distance runner, and who holds the country's record in the 5k. Carroll
came in at 14:22, or only 4 minutes and 38 seconds per mile, and the
large crowd at the finish line had to wait nearly a minute to see the
second-place finisher come in.

When organizer Paul Collyer, a
Somervillian of Irish descent, spoke of his plans to organize an Irish
race on the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day, people thought the
Somerville event wouldn't be able to compete with the parade held in
South Boston. But this year had the biggest turnout to date, with 1200
more runners than last year, and a larger crowd.

"People are
really starting to make this a yearly event," Collyer said, "more
people are using it as their St. Patrick's Day celebration."

Alderman-at-large
Jack Connolly, an avid runner who helped create the race in Somerville,
said that the idea behind the race was to mirror what's going on in
Ireland. "We wanted to make St. Paddy's weekend special, we don't need
a 3-hour parade," he said, noting that that people can drop by for 15
minutes to watch the race, or stay all day for the festivities.

After
the race ended, the crowds flocked to local bars, and long lines ran
out of The Burren, Redbones, Sligo and The Joshua Tree in Davis Square.
Bars from Magoun to Union Square were filled as well, said Collyer,
"every bar in Somerville was packed." There was a line coming out of
the Druid in Inman square as well. "We're bringing overflow business to
Cambridge instead of vice versa," he said with a laugh.

"Our
goal was to bring lots of people to Somerville, including residents,
and make it an attractive choice for people on St. Patty's," said
Alderman Connolly. "It's a huge economic uptick to businesses, and a
win for everyone."

It's also a win for youth athletic
organizations who will receive the proceeds from the event, which
Collyer estimated would be around $25,000. Somerville Track PAC, which
provides college scholarship money to Somerville High School Students,
is the main beneficiary, but money will also go to other groups such as
Somerville YMCA Learn to Swim, Somerville HS Soccer, and Toys for Tots.
All these organizations provided volunteers for the race, said Collyer,
and were very involved. "I like to work with high school teams, because
with cuts, their budgets get whacked first," he said.

Both
Collyer and Connolly contrasted the Sunday's celebration, which brought
in 20 police officers and resulted in no noted altercations, to the
South Boston Parade, which required as many as 600 police officers and
in past years has led to arrests and citations for disorderly conduct
and public drinking.

Collyer seems excited by the event's
success, and noted that it is one in a series of recent high-profile
Irish events Somerville, including the U2 concert at Somerville
Theater. He's also proud of Somerville's "ability to go head-to-head
with with the larger parade." Poking fun at the rivalry, he joked
"people go 'South Boston who?'"