'I do not feel worried in Cork': Sanctuary Runners on hope, friendship, and the marathon

A Solidarity-Through-Sport movement, founder Graham Clifford and his fellow Sanctuary Runners explain why their work and mission is more important now than ever

Cork City Marathon race director Eamon Hayes and Irish olympic athlete Lizzie Lee with Sanctuary Runners Esmeraldo Taveres, Oleksii Zatsarynskyi, Siun Kearney, Yan Zhang, Umar Hayat and Mona El Kafsi at the launch of the this year's Cork City Marathon. Picture: Joleen Cronin

Omar stands in the fading light facing west, his long fingers gripping the railings by the side of the bridge. In the distance the sun is setting, beneath him the last of the evening traffic is weaving its way home. This is Omar’s thinking time, when he dreams of his future, when he hopes and imagines — when he steadies himself to focus on brighter days in the city which has become his home, his safe harbour. When he whispers: ‘This is Cork’.

“I cross the pedestrian bridge from where I am staying on the Kinsale road to Tramore Valley Park where I run or walk. Often I stop and take some time to gather my thoughts and to look out over Cork. To take in this place which has taken me in,” he tells me after finishing a long shift. He works in security at a store in the city. Long hours… but he doesn’t complain, Abdiaziz Hassan Omar never does.