AND SHE’S OFF! MARY BEGINS HER LAP OF THE MAP IN AID OF THE RNLI
NEW Year’s Day began with a bang for Arklow’s Mary Nolan Hickey but it had nothing to do with fireworks.
The veteran athlete was joined at Arklow Lifeboat Station by relatives, friends and fellow athletes as she set off on her much-anticipated ‘Lap of the Map’ circuit of Ireland first thing in the morning.
Mary will spent the next few months, possibly up until the summer, running, walking and hiking around the Irish coast in aid of the RNLI.
She took on this adventure at the age of 65 to mark her 50th year in athletics and to prove that ‘a woman of a certain age’ is more than capable of pushing herself and taking on such a gruelling challenge.
Many of the Arklow Lifeboat crew members and volunteers joined in to wish her farewell and luck on her journey which will see her stopping in a new community every night, staying with hosts who are supporting her along the way. She had a great send off and was joined by a number of fellow athletes for her first leg of the Lap of the Map.
Mary set off from Arklow and on her first day covered 31.42 miles to Greystones in seven hours and 11 minutes. To follow Mary’s progress and to keep up to date with her journey, visit livetrack. garmin.com and search Mary Hickey Lap of the Map. Donations can be made through the Everyday Hero fundraising page under RNLI Lap of the Map.