Cycling for Tom Crean – and a very worthy cause
IT proved an overwhelming success on its inaugural staging last year, with some 250 cyclists taking part and helping to raise some €12,500 for Down Syndrome Kerry.
With that in mind, it’s hardly a surprise to hear that the Tom Crean Unsung Hero Cycle is making a return this April to raise funds once again for a very worthy cause.
It is an event with many purposes aside from its fund-raising aspect, however. It pays tribute to the so-called ‘Unsung Hero’, Annascaul’s Antarctic explorer Tom Crean.
It also acts as a satellite to the massive Tour de Munster cycle, set to take place again this summer, and it pays tribute to the late Emily Keohane, herself a former service user.
Aside from all this, the cycle itself is only one part of a weekend of family fun in Ballyseedy Home and Garden centre.
The event’s connection to Crean has more than a little to do with Enda O’Brien, a Tralee resident and grandson to the famous explorer. His 25-year-old son, Hugh, has benefited from the charity’s services, and Enda is very much looking forward to the April 20 event and the wider weekend of fun.
“There are two cycles, one of 44 kilometres, the other being 75 kilometres,” Enda said. “There’s no participation fee for the events, just donations to Down Syndrome Kerry. The cycles leave the garden centre at 10am, and after the cycle there will be family fun such as zumba, face-painting, bouncy castles, entertainment, and more on the Saturday and Sunday.”
On April 21, there will also be a guided ‘ Tom Crean Historical Walk’ in the Annascaul area, departing from the pub Crean himself ran, the popular South Pole Inn, at 11am. This walk will be guided by his grand-daughter, Aileen Crean- O’Brien, and her partner, Bill Shepherd, themselves explorers of no little repute. Further information on this and more of the weekend’s events will be available over the coming weeks on the ‘ Tom Crean Unsung Hero Cycle’ Facebook page.