At Nitro, one of our core tenets is ‘Be Good.’ Beyond the workplace application of this concept, we as Nitronauts are encouraged and enabled to perpetuate goodness in our communities through our Nitro Gives program by supporting, volunteering, and donating to help causes we believe in—individually or as a group.
Therefore on a cold March day, the women of Nitro Dublin (Nitronauties, as we’re known) decided that we would embark on a journey to complete the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon 10km run (or walk!) on the June bank holiday.
The VHI Women’s Mini Marathon is the biggest all women’s event of its kind in the world. Starting off with just 9,000 participants in the inaugural 1983 race, the event has grown to an astounding 41,006 participants in the 2014 race and has raised a total of almost €192 million for charity. It is now the biggest single day charity event in Ireland.
Training for the race started off well, bolstered by Nitro’s first wellness week in April in which the whole company competed to track as many steps as possible on our newly acquired Fitbits. Then in the blink of an eye, 1 June was here and race day had arrived—bringing with it torrential rain that persisted for the entire 10km.
Our spirits were far from dampened, however, and one by one (and some of us together) we crossed the finished line. Completion of the 10km run was no small accomplishment for us—especially with the inclement weather—but the greatest win of all was that we had smashed our donation goal of €1,000, which would go to benefit the three charities we selected:
- Dublin Simon Community; who work to prevent and address homelessness in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow
- Barnardos; who support children whose well-being is under threat, by working with them, their families and communities and by campaigning for the rights of children
- ReachOut.com; a service dedicated to taking the mystery out of mental health. Aiming to provide quality assured mental health information to help people ages 12-25 years old get through tough times
All in all, the 2015 VHI Women’s Mini Marathon was an incredibly memorable and rewarding experience. I know I speak for all of the Nitronauties when I say that we truly had a blast!
All funds raised were matched by Nitro as part of our Nitro Gives program.
The Nitro Gives Program covers a range of initiatives including Volunteering Time Off, Donation Matching and Licensing Donations. The program centers around and supports a number of core values including, Education, Community and Environment. Nitro Gives is owned by the People Operations Team and is a core element of Nitro’s Employee Experience Hierarchy of Needs.
