{"id":428793,"date":"2026-05-02T14:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T14:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/428793\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T14:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T14:03:16","slug":"large-crowd-gathers-as-2026-bear-run-74-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/428793\/","title":{"rendered":"Large crowd gathers as 2026 Bear Run 74 begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Huge crowds turned out in Ballybofey on Saturday morning for the official start of The Bear Run \u201974.<\/p>\n

The fifth staging of the annual event, the brainchild of Lifford man Keith \u2018Bear\u2019 Gamble, was held in aid of BUMBLEance, Ireland\u2019s only dedicated children\u2019s ambulance.<\/p>\n

Until this year, \u20ac267,996 had been raised by The Bear Run \u201974 and an in-house auction on Friday night at Jackson\u2019s Hotel added a whopping \u20ac50,820 to that tally.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe crowds are getting bigger all the time,\u201d Bear said. \u201cWhen I started this I was on my own and now it\u2019s building and building every year. Everybody who helps me makes it easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

A total of 74 high spec super cars set off from Ballybofey The tape was cut by the Mayor of Donegal, Councillor Paul Canning, and Nadia Adam from Ashford Motors.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI feel like Donegal is like my second home,\u201d Nadia said. \u201cWe\u2019re here for BUMBLEance – what an amazing charity. The fact that they don\u2019t get any funding is unbelievable. It means so much to these kids. I met a little fella who uses the service and even getting it is so hard. It is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councillor Canning added: \u201cThe work that goes into this is unbelievable. A phenomenal amount of money has been raised and it\u2019s a positive story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gamble did the first Bear Run in 2022 and has done four now, but has also held various car shows, including one recently at Lifford Stadium to honour the memory of Christian McCullagh, the 17-year-old from Raphoe who died in September and who was a huge fan of the Bear Run.<\/p>\n

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Every car on The Bear Run \u201974 this year had a sticker remembering the popular Raphoe teenager.<\/p>\n

Bear said: \u201cChristian loved this car so much. I just wanted to do something to remember him. He got so much out of the Bear Run and we just want to remember him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bear\u2019s father, Joseph, passed away at home in Croaghan Heights in July 2021 at the age of 74 – hence the name of the event.<\/p>\n

Below are some more great shots from the event’s start this morning:<\/p>\n

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