Locals join ‘Marathon Man’ Alex on charity run
A DEDICATED group of runners from Wexford Marathon Club joined up with an ultra dedicated runner from Cork to take part in a unique challenge in The Raven forest recently.
The running fireman, Alex O’Shea, from Cork succeeded in running 32 marathons in 32 counties, in just 16 days.
He was joined by Garda Ollie O’Sullivan, who ran one marathon each day and also drove the duo to the various locations around the country. Wexford was Alex’s 28th marathon and all proceeds from the challenge are going to the Irish Guide Dogs.
Lorraine McMahon was one of the Wexford Marathon Club runners who took on the Wexford leg of the trip, along with Anthony Kennelly and Anna Monahan. Three other members Ruth O’Connell, Paul Duggan and Dee Boland ran a section of the Wexford run as well.
The group subsequently arranged food for the two men through the nearby Hotel Curracloe and Lorraine expressed their gratitude to JP Hanrahan for his support and generosity.
Of the running duo, she said: ‘They had their strategy very well planned out. They had to leave us on the Friday and drive to Carlow that evening so they would be ready for a 6 a.m. start there on Saturday. We were delighted to support them on the day.’
She added that the challenge was a one-off event that no one had ever completed before. Alex, she explained, was an ultra runner who had represented Ireland all over the world.
She encouraged people to donate to the Irish Guide Dogs by texting WOOF to 50300. Each text costs €4.