Collette to run ultra marathon to help her grandson Charlie
DUNDALK grandmother Collettee O’Hagan is about to embark on one of the biggest challenges of her running career when she takes part in the Ultra marathon from Belfast to Dublin next month. The well known runner, who has notched up over 500 marathons, is one of just sixty athletes who have signed up for the gruelling 107.5 mile race and she is doing so to raise funds for the hospice foundations in North Louth and Meath.
These charities are close to her heart as her family has benefited from the support they give to those affected by cancer over the past few years.
First her husband Larry was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015 and hen her grandson Charlie underwent treatment for cancer which was discovered shortly after his first birthday last summer.
‘ The work the hospice foundations do is absolutely marvellous,’ she says. ‘ The North Louth hospice looked after my hubby Larry when he had cancer and thankfully he is okay now, just going for his check-ups.’
The couple were looking forward to life getting back to normal when they got the devastating news last summer that their grandson Charlie had cancer.
‘He was just around a year old when his mum Martina took him to the doctor as she was concerned because he seemed to have ‘a pot belly’. The doctor knew straight away that something was wrong and he was sent up to Crumlin Children’s Hospital,’ recalls Collette.
‘It was a terrible shock - it all happened so quickly,’ she says.
Charlie had to undergo months of chemotherapy to shrink the tumour and had an operation to remove a kidney and is thankfully recovering from the ordeal.
‘He was in hospital for a couple of months so Gerard and Martina had to spend a lot of time going up and down to Dublin,’ she says. ‘ They live in Duleek and don’t have a car so I don’t know how they would have managed if it wasn’t for the support which they received from Meath Hospice, which provided them with transport.’
Likewise, she says Larry and herself are very grateful for the assistance which they received from the North Louth Hospice. ‘Larry had his treatment in Beaumont and had to have many, many sessions of chemo. The drivers from the North Louth Hospice who took him up and down for treatment were just great and it made things that bit easier for us.’
‘ The Hospice is there to help people when they have cancer and now that Larry has had the all clear, it’s nice to be able to give something back.’
And by giving something back, Collette is about to embark on one of her toughest challenges to date - and that’s saying something for a woman who has run 530 marathons to date.
‘I’ve started training for this already and am just back from England where I did the Enigma Quadzilla 4 in 4 at Caldecott Lake Milton Keyes,’ says Collette.
‘I have done a couple of 24 hour marathons but this will be different. It will take a lot more than 24 hours to do and it’s more of a mental than a physical challenge as we will be running in the dark in the middle of nowhere as we are following the route of the old Belfast to Dublin Road.’
The 60 runners taking part in this Ultra Marathon on March 30th will set off from Belfast’s famous Crown Bar for the 107.5 mile run which finisheds at James’ Gate in Dublin.
‘We will be running along the back roads, through Lisburn, Pontzpass, Newry, Dundalk, Dunleer, Drogheda, Balbriggan, etc.’
Collette won’t be facing the challenge on her own, as fellow Dundalk woman Emma Kieran, who is also a member North East Runners, has signed up for the gruelling event.
Emma too is raising funds for the North Louth Hospice and the women will get lots of support from the North East Runners as they pass through Dundalk.
‘My daughter Jacqueline Hughes and others members of the club are going to join us along the route,’ says Collette.
Anyone who wishes to support her can do so through her GoFundMe page.