About Us

Dublin front runners

The Dublin Front Runners is proud to be Ireland’s largest LGBTQ+ sports club.

Our club exists to provide a positive and welcoming space for all members of the LGBTQ+ community to connect, build support and friendships. Whether you are a recreational jogger or a fast marathon runner, we provide a supportive and motivational environment to help runners of every ability realise their potential and build community.

We even have a walking group every Saturday and an annual Couch to 5K programme and are delighted to be welcoming new members of ALL abilities to the club every month. We’d love to see you there too!

Our members can participate in club training sessions on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Our weekly Saturday club training sessions are followed by coffee and chats - a great chance to connect with others in the club! We regularly take part in local and international running events together and of course we enjoy plenty of varied social events together as a club too!

To learn more about the Dublin Front Runners, what we do, where we meet and how to join, visit us at dublinfrontrunners.ie

We are #DFRStrong

Mark Armstrong
Chairperson, Dublin Front Runners

DFR Club History

The Dublin Front Runners was founded in early 2005 by Mark Rooney. It has since grown to become one of the largest running clubs in Ireland, but started with modest roots. Mark put an advert into GCN magazine, 4 people turned up to the first club session and the DFRs was born. By the end of the first year, the club had just 10 members. The commitment of this group to building a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQ+ runners and their allies in Dublin to train, socialise and participate in running events created a huge impact and today the club membership averages 300 people and is still growing.

View fullsize Today is international day against homophobia, biphobia, interphobia and transphobia #idahobit 2023. We stand together, we stand proud #dfrstrong #gays #translivesmatter #bi #bisexual #lesbians #lgbt #gayireland #gayrunner #inclusion #instagay #tra
View fullsize Have a look at how well some of our fundraisers for the Dublin Pride Run are doing so far! We are blown away by your efforts😊 You too can fundraise for our three chosen charities by simply registering for the Pride Run on www.priderun.ie. A persona
View fullsize Dublin Front Runners were delighted and privileged to have consulted with @dublinmarathon on the introduction of a nonbinary category over the past number of months💜 Seeing this take effect is a huge step for our members and the wider community. We
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View fullsize Fab morning at our Saturday morning club run today! We were joined by @itsbryankeller from @austinfrontrunners🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Come back anytime🥰 Pic 2 - is our wonderful Couch to 5k group who are doing great. It's not too late to join this pr
View fullsize Who's ready to have this much fun?! Do you love a Pride Run pooch as much as we do?! 🐕🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ 💜 - This year we will have a competition for the 'Best Dressed Dog' at the race with @roving_out so get planning😍🐶🐕🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ E
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View fullsize The Dublin Pride Run will take place at 7.30pm on Fiday June 16th. This is our hugely popular flagship race. We can guarantee this will be the most colourful you've ever seen The Phoenix Park! 🌈🌈🌈 Register now to avoid disappointment! ➡️ www.prid

Part of an International Network…

The Dublin Front Runners is one of more than 120 clubs who make up the worldwide International Front Runners network, a global organisation of LGBTQ+ running clubs. The International Front Runners were established in 1981 with the founding of the San Francisco Front Runners, the first LGBTQ+ running club in the world.

We regularly welcome members from different clubs in the International Front Runners network to our runs when they are in Dublin, and our own Dublin Front Runners members can often be found visiting other clubs around the world when traveling.