The Kerryman (North Kerry)

‘DREAM COME TRUE’ FOR CONOR AS HE CROSSES BOSTON OFF HIS LIST

- By FERGUS DENNEHY

A TRALEE runner can check another item off of his running ‘ bucket list’ this week after he completed the prestigiou­s Boston Marathon last week, in an experience that he describes simply as ‘a dream come true’.

Conor Cusack, who only completed his first ever marathon in Tralee in 2014, is currently a man on a mission as he aims to reach his 100th marathon by the end of 2018 and he wants to cross the famous six ‘major’ marathons off of his list by then and having already completed Berlin and now having finished Boston, Conor now only has to complete Tokyo, New York, London and Chicago to complete the set.

He says that crossing the finish line of his 56th marathon last Monday April 17 and the 121st edition of the Boston Marathon, is somethat he’ll never forget.

“Boston Marathon, for any serious runners out there, is top of the list and I’m certainly no different - the whole history of it, I mean it’s been running since 1897 and certainly, the chance to run in it was something was hugely appealing to me,” said Conor, talking to The Kerryman last week.

“What really copperfast­ed my desire to run it though was when, a couple of years ago, I got to meet Dick and Rick of Team Hoyt and I mean, these guys are legends who have run Boston 32 times now and they were telling me all about the atmosphere on the day and the experience­s they’ve had and this talk was the final push that I needed to finally enter,” he continued.

“It was honestly incredible, the crowd support all along the route was phenomenal - just mindblowin­g support entirely; I had my name writen on my shirt and people in the crowd were shouting it in support, they were giving out high five’s - it was a surreal and beautiful experience and something I’ll honestly never forget,” he finished.

 ??  ?? ABOVE: Tralee’s Conor Cusack beams with pride as he holds his finisher’s medal after the Boston Marathon last week. Photo by Fergus Dennehy.
ABOVE: Tralee’s Conor Cusack beams with pride as he holds his finisher’s medal after the Boston Marathon last week. Photo by Fergus Dennehy.
 ??  ?? RIGHT: Conor Cusack pictured with Dick and Rick Hoyt of legendary Team Hoyt running team.
RIGHT: Conor Cusack pictured with Dick and Rick Hoyt of legendary Team Hoyt running team.

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