Marathon man Odhrán raises almost €14,000 for Childline
BEING told to go no further than 2km from your home has helped many of us to appreciate the sights and sounds in our own locales.
However, Odhrán Murphy decided to take that appreciation a step further by doing 129 laps of the green near his house in Ard na Cuan on Whiterock Hill.
Those 129 laps added up to 26.2 miles which is, of course, the length of your average marathon.
With all funds raised going to Childline, Odhrán set up a GoFundMe page for people to support a good cause. And on the day in question the neighbours were out in force.
‘It was a nice and sunny day for it, a few people ran some of the way with me to give me a bit of encouragement. The whole estate actually came out to cheer, it was probably the first thing of interest that’s happened since the pandemic began,’ Odhrán joked.
Having ran six marathons previously, Odhrán had some idea of what was in store but admitted he was ‘fairly knackered’ at the end of his 3 hours 46 minute effort. However, it has proven worth the effort with almost €14,000 raised for Childline so far.
‘I chose them because normally they would be holding their mini-marathon around this time of year, and that would be a big fundraiser for them. And then, in addition, there’s a lot of kids stuck at home at the moment – maybe in an environment that they don’t want to be in,’ he explained.
Thanking his wife Deirdre, daughters Kate and Emma, and Richie from Crust Pizza for their support, Odhrán said the GoFundMe page would remain open for a few more weeks if people wished to donate to Childline.
The page can be found at www.gofundme. com/f/marathon-in-the-estate