This article is from page 88 of the 2008-07-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 88 JPG
TWO Shannon men who are endeav- oring to run 12 marathons in as many months have reached the half-way mark and will take on their seventh challenge this weekend.
Darren O’Connell (32) and Alan Mullin (30) from Tullyglass, Shan- non, will run the Swiss Alpine marathon on Saturday. It is part of a challenge aimed at raising money for Cystic Fibrosis.
A friend of theirs died from the condition several years ago and they are hoping that the people of Shan- non will recognise their huge efforts in this challenge.
Over the past six months, the two have run in Zurich, Rome, Valencia
and Norway, along with a couple of runs in Ireland. After Switzerland, WEA SUUENiom alu IOM e(KIl ene stounbre Dublin, New York and Lisbon.
Their last run was on flat ground in Norway. Alan finished in four hours and three minutes, while Dar- ren came home in four hours and 12 minutes.
‘The marathon itself was fine. Get- ting there and home was a bit of a nightmare. We had to travel to two airports and it was tough going,” said PETE
Both have managed to come through the mammoth challenge relatively unscathed and despite nig- gling injuries, have both been lucky enough to stay in good health. This is important, given the high level of
intensity involved.
“The Swiss Alps this weekend will be pretty tough. It is the highest alti- tude marathon in Europe. It will be either very hot or very cold,” added Darren. The rest of the runs will be city marathons,’ he said.
While Alan trains in Dublin, where he is based, Darren does most of his training in Shannon and Cratloe. He also took part in the 10k run in Bun- ratty two weeks ago, in aid of Our Lady’s Hospital for sick children in Sate
Allied to the running, the two have also been raising money for Cystic Fibrosis. They have collected up to €7,000 so far and hope to increase this substantially, as the final runs Zhe) Keene
“We had two days of bag packing last week in Dunnes Stores (Shan- non) and collected €3,500. We were delighted with that. All of the money is going directly to Cystic Fibrosis. We are playing all of our expenses out of our own pockets,’ he added.
The duo will approach businesses in the Shannon area later this year, with a view to encouraging them to help out with funds. They will also hold a number of fundraisers, in- cluding a table quiz in the Oakwood Arms Hotel, Shannon, in October.