West Kerry endurers not dwelling on 2017

MAC AN T-SAOIR AND FINN WILL PREPARE IN 2018 FOR MORE SUPERHUMAN FEATS

FROM a west Kerry point of view, 2017 will be remembered in no small part as the latest chapter in the stories of two of the region’s most durable philanthropists.

For Shane Finn (25) and Tomás Mac an t-Saoir (23), it was another year of remarkable achievement, but this 12-month period was as much about looking ahead as adding to their compelling résumés on behalf of worthy causes.

Finn had no sooner completed his 24th Marathon in 24 unforgettable days this summer when he revealed his plans for a 36-day coast-to-coast trek across the United States for 2019. Raising more than €140,000 for Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland (SBHI) through his 24-day slog around the Republic in 2017, Finn will in 2019 continue his efforts – inspired by his first cousin, spina bifida and hydrocephalus sufferer Mary Evans – by again hitting the roads for SBHI in less than two years’ time. On this occasion, however, he will do so on the other side of the Atlantic.

Going from the west coast to east, Finn will cycle and run across a nation the size of a continent in little over a month, using a pattern of three 50-kilometre runs followed by three 250-kilometre cycles throughout. By the time he’ ll finish up in New York, he’ ll have covered more than 4,500 kilometres.

Tomás Mac an t-Saoir modestly claims his 2017 wasn’t as exciting as his 2016, when he cycled, largely alone, across the US in aid of the Donal Walsh #LiveLife Foundation.

That said, he did compete in a 2,250-kilometre cycle around Ireland within a 77-hour time-frame with Team CAS, qualifying for the prestigious “Race Across America” in the process, and he also announced plans as exciting as you could hope to imagine.

“My plan to go back to college in 2017 came to nothing as I decided it wasn’t what I wanted to do; life is too short to do things you don’t want to do so I decided to plan something ... that excites me very much,” the Baile an Fheirtéirigh man told The Kerryman.

“So in November 2018 I will embark on an unsupported 12,000-kilometre cycle from Cairo, Egypt, down to Cape Town, South Africa.

“To do a mammoth trip such as this mostly solo and completely unsupported at the age of 24 will be daunting, mentally more so than physically, but I’m ready for the challenge.

“This upcoming Africa journey will begin on November 2, 2018, at one of the seven Wonders of the Ancient World – The Great Pyramid of Giza – and will take me through 10 African countries, riding alongside the River Nile, long stretches of desert including the Sahara, tackling the mountains of Ethiopia, leading onto Kenya, where I’ll cross the Equator and have Mount Kilimanjaro in my sights. From there I bike to Lake Malawi, Victoria Falls, to continue to spread Donal’s message of #LiveLife and also to keep providing age-appropriate teenage facilities in hospital and hospice centres, as well as promoting his anti-suicide message.” Mac an t-Saoir’s latest adventure will end in Cape Town in early 2019.

Tomás Mac an t-Saoir after finishing his cycle across the US in 2017.