Major achievement for marathon runner

A Louth man who completed the world’s six major marathons has been awarded for his achievements.

Gerry Fox, who is originally from Kilsaran, was recently awarded the World Marathon Major after competing in events in London, Berlin, Chicago, Boston, New York and Tokyo.

Gerry, who lives in Stabannon, is among a small number of people who have achieved this accolade and was presented last week with a specially-commissioned medal and certificate from the marathons’ sponsors, Abbott Pharmacy.

The 60-year-old said: ‘ These are the marathons I had done since 2009. It transpired that if someone had completed all six in a specified number of years, you could be counted in the World Marathon Majors if you applied’.

Gerry has been running marathons a lot longer than seven years. In fact, his first was in Dublin in 1985 which he ran in aid of the homeless in Dublin and after a short time on the circuit, he left long distance running until he took it up again in 2009.

For an amazing 30 years, he played with Castlebellingham Gaelic side, O’Connells.

Gerry said: ‘I always liked to keep fit and I was always into

sport. It was great being able to play Gaelic for such a long time, but when I retired from football, I was looking for something else to keep fit and I took up marathon running again, after a gap of around 25 years.

‘Getting back to the marathons was something that was always in the back of my mind’.

And he was motivated to restart marathons to help raise vital funds for Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children. His first ‘majors’ marathon was in London and ‘it stemmed from there’. He said: ‘ We kept going and reached the sixth, Tokyo, in 2015. That was certainly an experience, and we stayed for just five days. It was really well organised, but there was a lot of travelling’.

Gerry said he found Boston the most difficult of all six. He said: ‘I did it in 2013 and found the heat difficult to get through. It starts late in the morning, when the temperature could be 22 degrees and it can really sap your energy’.

But he loves that he’s helping to raise money for Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children. Gerry said: ‘Behind it all, it’s about the kids’. It was when his wife’s nephew benefited from treatment he received from the hospital many years that prompted Gerry to help raise funds.

And his whole family is involved. His wife, Philomena, travels with him to many of the marathons, which his son, Johann Fox, works directly for the hospital and daughter Charlotte is also involved in fundraising.

When he’s not competing in a marathon, Gerry is training for one and runs three to four times a week.

‘You have to put the miles in one the legs!’ he says.