Looking for love? Maybe it’s time to try something new and take to the hills
SINGLE AND sick of pubs, clubs and disappointing dinner parties? You’re not the only one.
These days, many of those looking for love are turning from the time-worn channels that traditionally involve late nights and heavy drinking, and instead finding ways to combine flirting with fitness.
Joseph Quinn runs hillwalking courses with his company Walkabout Wicklow, and testifies to the fact that wandering the Wicklow way can often lead to other things.
“We do find that on our courses, what starts out as fitness and learning new skills, ends up being more social. We’ve had a few romances.”
Quinn claims that those interested in keeping fit usually find outdoor pursuits a more social option than gym workouts, and a healthier alternative to the beer-goggled club scene.
“People just want to meet people of the opposite sex, but in an environment when they’re not sitting in a dingy pub. They want to get out. they find someone with a common interest, like the outdoors.”
If climbing a mountain doesn’t set your heart racing, however, then sailing is another outdoor option with romantic potential.
Glenans Irish Sailing Club has brought plenty of people together over the years, boasting several marriages born from its sailing courses and outdoor activities, which extend to walks when weather conditions precludes taking to the water.
According to the club’s business development manager Ruth Ennis, who herself found long-term love through the club, “I could make a long list of people who I know have met and married or linked up for life-long partnerships through Glenans . . . We don’t actively matchmake, but it happens.”
According to Ennis, the social element of the club, which is largely run by volunteers, is as important to members as the sporting.
“On the courses, people have time together. There are no distractions. You have breakfast together, you go out sailing together, you have lunch together, people socialise together in the evenings, so it gives people a little bit of time out, just to be with other people.”
With a proven romantic track record, word is already out about Glenans and it’s not just single people who have taken heed. “Last year there was a section about us on RTÉ and after that I had a number of mothers ringing up booking their adult sons on sailing courses, for them to meet women.”
If you’re more interested in meeting someone of the same sex, you could try Dublin Frontrunners Athletic Club, a gay and lesbian running club that is responsible for its fair share of romances, according to club chairman Declan Keating. “A lot of people who have just come out may join the club to meet other gay and lesbian people in a more relaxed environment,” he says. Now boasting a hundred members, the club meets regularly for fitness activities which often segue into social events, and romance is often the result. Keating should know: he met his own partner of over three years through the club. “We still run together!”
Given that romance and physical activity are becoming such a good match, it’s no surprise that many dating sites are getting on board too.
Muddy Matches, an online dating site for “country-minded people” that operates from Britain, has so far organised two outdoor events in Ireland for single people looking to combine outdoor pursuits with romantic potential.
“It’s for people who don’t necessarily want to meet people online,” explains Muddy Matches co-founder Lucy Reeves of the site’s hillwalking event in Glendalough and weekend of outdoor games in Carlow.
“It’s a way to meet new people and do active things at the same time. We’ve also just done a ski trip, and we do clay shooting days in England.”
As Reeves sees it, such outdoor activities allow people to socialise with other single people in a more relaxed setting, without the pressure of one-on-one dating.
“The pressure is off because you’re all out there to do a shared activity. A lot of people aren’t just there to meet someone. They’re single and if the right person comes along, great, but it’s not their sole purpose.”
Such is the growing interest in events like these that Walkabout Wicklow is branching out to cater to just that purpose. “I’m going to start running singles weekends in Glencree this year. That’s definitely on the agenda, because I can see a market for it.”
While some may prefer to face potential partners in softly lit bars with their glad rags on, Quinn claims that love can find you even when you’re red-faced and panting half way up a hill. “It’s funny watching people flirt as we walk up a mountain, while you’re sweating it out, covered in mud.”
Ennis concurs, her own 25-year relationship is testimony to the fact that you don’t have to be gazing across a candlelit table for Cupid to strike. “Even if you’re cold and wet and tired, romance can blossom.”
