The Simon Community ‘Home Run’ is an annual fundraiser that began in 1983 and it aims to raise money to support Dublin Simon Community’s work across emergency response and long-term housing solutions.
According to the Department of Housing, there are 16,353 homeless people living in Ireland as of August 2025 and homelessness figures increased for eight consecutive months from February to August 2025.
The event was initially scheduled for Saturday Oct. 4 but had to be rescheduled to Saturday Oct. 11 due to safety concerns surrounding Storm Amy.
1,200 people registered for the event, each contributing a €30 registration fee.Simon Cannon experienced homelessness for 14 years while living in England. After returning to Ireland, Cannon managed to get housing and now volunteers for the Simon Community, dressing up as a different Marvel character at every ‘Home Run’ event.Although 1,200 people registered for the event, the rescheduling meant that many registrants were unable to attend and a total of 593 were recorded crossing the finish line.Eloi Alacio (left) from Barcelona was the first to cross the finish line, recording a time of 17 minutes and 40 seconds.Aisling (left) and Polly Gannon (right) brought their black labrador, Saoirse, and their cocker spaniel, Ben, to enter into the ‘Best Pet’ competition which was run by Petmania Ireland.Anna Valent (5) getting her face painted by Erinna of Sweetcheeks Facepainting, who provided free face painting for children at the event. There was also live music by Uband Dublin, a 6-piece cover band that performs at charity events for a variety of different causes.Over 70 volunteers such as Conor Slater (left) and Aadithya Vijayan (right) were involved in making the event possible.
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