Curious how the cost of your registration supports the Old First Ward Community?
The Old First Ward Community Association relies heavily on your fundraising dollars to help us in our mission to deliver quality services to the community. We provide a wide range of programs for our members including daily meals, a free afterschool program, art and ceramics classes, athletics, a community garden, Buffalo River Food Pantry, and community housing assistance. Our agency works with the City of Buffalo, Erie County, and New York State to facilitate programs sponsored in part by the City Development Block Grant, the Food Bank of WNY, and the Department of Housing and Community Renewal, among many others.
We are dedicated to the serving the needs of the Old First Ward and the Buffalo River Community. Please consider the Old First Ward Community Association for any additional donations throughout the year, as our mission here continues past the Shamrock Run finish line.
We are dedicated to the serving the needs of the Old First Ward and the Buffalo River Community. Please consider the Old First Ward Community Association for any additional donations throughout the year, as our mission here continues past the Shamrock Run finish line.
45 Years in the Making.
The Shamrock Run began in the Ward 45 years ago. While it may have looked a little different, it still feels the same.
This 8k race began to celebrate the soul of the Old First Ward community and its industrial bones. Founders, Earl Wells and Mike Malaney, were looking for a way to boost financial support for the Community Center's youth sports and other programs, and thought up this race as a way to get the community involved. The first Shamrock Run had 200 runners, paying just $2 to enter. Now, 45 year later, the Shamrock Run has grown to about 5,000 runners, with almost 10,000 on site for the actual day of the race. Even with the growth the Shamrock Run has experienced over the years, it still supports the programming of the Old First Ward Community Center, and it still marks a great way to start the race season.
This 8k race began to celebrate the soul of the Old First Ward community and its industrial bones. Founders, Earl Wells and Mike Malaney, were looking for a way to boost financial support for the Community Center's youth sports and other programs, and thought up this race as a way to get the community involved. The first Shamrock Run had 200 runners, paying just $2 to enter. Now, 45 year later, the Shamrock Run has grown to about 5,000 runners, with almost 10,000 on site for the actual day of the race. Even with the growth the Shamrock Run has experienced over the years, it still supports the programming of the Old First Ward Community Center, and it still marks a great way to start the race season.
"Every March, Dave Suttell returns to the beating heart of the Shamrock Run. At 84, a decade past the end of his own running days, Suttell still signs up for the race, mainly for the chance to stop at Doris Bouquard's place in Buffalo's Old First Ward.
To Suttell, Doris is a living symbol of what sets the event apart. When he first entered the race more than 25 years ago, runners would register in the basement of the old Our Lady of Perpetual Help elementary school on Vandalia Street. Then they would stand in line on the sidewalk across the street, waiting to pick up their T-shirts in the Bouquard living room.
The late Cyril Bouquard was a crane operator and president of the Old First Ward Community Center. Before the race, Cyril and Doris always opened the doors of their own home. The couple and their children would offer coffee or beer to dozens of complete strangers, waiting for their shirts.
Eventually, a glittering new community center went up in the ward. While race activities shifted into that building, Suttell sticks with the original routine. Theresa Bouquard, one of the daughters, brings his number and gear to the house. That gives Suttell a chance to shoot the breeze with Doris, now 91."
-Buffalo News, 2018
"I run a lot of races, and this is my favorite," Myers said. "It's so old-school, and people are so excited, and it really takes us back to Buffalo."
-Buffalo News, 2018