Andrew’s rock n roll marathon

Fitness and rock ‘n roll don’t usually to together in the same sentence, but for local man Andrew Gallagher they go hand in hand.

Andrew, who received a kidney donated by his mother-inlaw four years ago, made it to the finals of the Rock ‘n Roll Idol competition, raising valuable funds for charity along the way.

And although he didn’t win the overall prize of a trip to California to participate in the Rock n Roll marathon in Las Vegas, he was thrilled to be able to compete in the Affidea Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon in Dublin recently.

‘ The Rock ‘n Roll campaign was fantastic to be involved in and despite the outcome, which was won by Sinead Gannon and a well deserved win at that, I was just delighted to be given a chance to compete with other runners from around the country,’ said Andrew. ‘ The race weekend itself was very unique and finally getting to meet the other finalists at the 5k on Saturday and then the 10k/Half Marathon on the Sunday was a nice way to bookend the whole experience.’

As part of his preparation for the event, Andrew set up a running group for family and friends, called the Duain Croí Runners/Walkers, with the aim of running 1,000km to raise funds for the Children’s Heart Centre, Crumlin and Renal Support Centre Beaumont.

‘We hit our target at the Carlingford 5k on August 4th and we have added almost 200km to it since with Rock N Roll Marathon weekend,’ he reported. He reckoned they have raised around €3,000 so far.

He added that they were honoured to be chosen charity for the Tick Tock 2 race which is on this evening, Tuesday August 22 at 7pm, departing from the Louth County Council offices. The race is in memory of Andy Calliff who was a well known runner in the area who sadly passed away earlier in year.