Marathon man’s 1,000km odyssey ends in triumph

TADHG EVANS SPOKE TO DINGLE MAN SHANE FINN AS HE COMPLETED 24 MARATHONS IN 24 DAYS IN AID OF SPINA BIFIDA HYDROCEPHALUS

WHENEVER an important day descends on west Kerry, a white mist as damp as a wash cloth is rarely far behind. Considering the toil he’s endured this month, Shane Finn deserved unclouded skies and a generous sun for his run between Blennerville and Dingle on Saturday; instead, he had to negotiate a fog so soupy that it almost reduced his 24 th marathon in 24 days to a doggy paddle along the N86.

But a trivial thing like weather couldn’t temper the local sense of awe at his achievement, a feat that marks him out as a unique member of this county. He passed the finish line off John Street to volleys of applause and gold confetti, before clutching his mother, Josie, and soaking her shoulder with tearful emotion, a product of 24 days of unfathomable application.

Turning back to the finish-line, the 25-year-old lumbered towards his father, Timmy, who was smiling on watchfully having cycled alongside his son over the entire 630-mile route. Shane’s arms wrapped around his Dad’s luminous jacket like a pair of famished pythons to form as genuine an expression of gratitude as could be delivered, before local Master of Ceremonies Richie Williams beckoned all parties to a makeshift timber stage on a small truck near the finish-line.

“I’ve tried to come up with a single word to describe what Shane has done for our charity, but I can’t,” Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland (SBHI) Chairperson Peter Landy boomed into a microphone. “He said he’d run 24 marathons in 24 days, and he did it. He said this venture would raise over €100,000, and he managed that too. Words escape me with this fellow and all he has done on behalf of his cousin Mary Evans, who suffers from Spina Bifida and avails of SBHI’s services.

“Shane has joined the annals of Kerry history today as far as I’m concerned. This county is accustomed to sporting success, and many of your own locals have carried Sam Maguire over the Blennerville Bridge. But, as far as I know, nobody from around here has achieved what Shane has achieved.

“I was driving home from Dundalk a few months ago when he gave me a phone call, and I must have stayed talking to him for 20 minutes after he told me what he had in mind. I thought he was crazy enough doing 12 marathons in 12 days back in 2014 but, like last time, he’s pulled through, and I cannot thank him enough. I just wonder what idea he’ll come up with next!”

Trading places with Peter to take to the microphone, Shane looked as imposing and fresh as a maturing oak tree, and the clarity and energy of his ensuing speech further belied the enormity of the challenge he had just conquered. His cousin Mary and three children with Micky Mouse-rimmed wheelchairs sat in the front row facing him, prompting the day’s central figure to point and nod at them: “This is for ye and all the team at SBHI. Ye’re the reason I put my two feet on the floor.

“I could lie and say I don’t know what I’m going to say, but I’ve been rehearsing this speech for the last eight months. I’ve been in and out the front door of hell, but I’ve enjoyed the journey. I said to my Mom before I left that I was about to find out what I was made of. Well, I’ve made it.

“I had an incredible support group who made sure I got Photo Declan Malone out of bed every morning and forced me to sleep when my mind was going a mile a minute. My cousin Jamie was with me the entire way, and he didn’t even get to celebrate securing a 1:1 degree from UL such was his commitment, and without the cooperation of my WK Fitness co-workers Mark [Evans] and Chris [Thomas], none of this could have happened. They deserve all the credit they get.”

Fixing his sunglasses, glistening like ponds under what little light pierced through the grey clouds overhead, Shane paused and forced back a tear. Photo John Cleary

“Unknown to myself, I started out on this journey when I was 17. College didn’t work out for me, but these last few years, ever since I got involved with fitness, have been incredible. My aunts and uncles, my poor brother and sister [Tommy and Róisín] and my perfect parents deserve so much thanks for moulding me into the man I am today.

“I never had any doubt I was going to make it. You should never tell me I can’t do something – because, sure as anything, I’ll go and do it anyway!”

BELOW: RIGHT: Shane Finn hugs his mother, Josie, at the finishing line in Dingle Shane Finn at the finishing line in Dingle with his cousin Mary who inspired him to run 24 marathons in 24 days to raise funds for SBHI.

LEFT: Shane Finn hugs his companions who ran with him during part of his 24-marathon challenge, after crossing the finishing line in Dingle on Saturday.

LEFT: RIGHT: Bucket collectors Breda Bell, Martin Fahey, Bridie Finn (Shane’s aunt) and Chloe Herlihy from Camp (front). Wearing an orange top Shane Finn, Dingle, passing over Blennerville Bridge on Saturday on his way to Dingle.

Photos by Declan Malone Shane Finn with Eanna O’Shea who travelled with his family from Kildare to welcome Shane home to Dingle.