Ex Saint’s big charity challenge
Even years of preseason training will not have fully prepared Mark Reilly for his latest charity challenge.
But the former St Johnstone midfielder is ready to push through the pain barrier when he kicks-off a gruelling test of endurance this month.
Mark is set to run 100 miles between the clubs he played for, starting at Saints’ McDiarmid Park early on Saturday, May 22.
He will then work his way to Fir Park, the home of Motherwell, before battling on to the stadiums of St Mirren and finally Kilmarnock.
With a plan to complete the challenge in 24 hours, Mark is gathering funds for Reverse Rett.
His daughter, Dionne, was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome in 2011 and ever since he has been determined to raise awareness and money.
“It’s a rare condition,” Mark said. “It mainly affects young girls and she requires 24/7 care.
“I have been raising funds for the charity Reverse Rett. Big Kevin McGowne and Jim Weir have been involved from the start.
“We did the Three Peaks Challenge and I’ve done some Ironman competitions.
“Latterly I’d decided to do the Marathon des Sables a self-sufficient race in the Sahara Desert.
“It’s basically 156 miles in the Sahara over a week. But that kept getting cancelled because of coronavirus.
“So, on the back of that, I decided to do something else and then I came up with the idea of running 100 miles between the grounds of teams I had played for.”
There is sure to be a buzz in the city of Perth when Mark arrives to start his challenge at McDiarmid Park.
It will be Scottish Cup final day and Saints, who he played for between 2002-2004, will be going for glory against Hibs later that afternoon.
“I had a feeling they would get to the final,” smiled Mark, who will have former Saints captain Weir as company at the start-line.
“We’re looking to start at 8am in the morning at McDiarmid Park and begin the 60-mile run to Motherwell.
“I’ve done a couple of the Ironman events which tests the endurance. But this is different.
“It’s the same muscle group, your legs, for 100 miles. There is no doubt that this is going to be the toughest thing I’ve done.
“I just need to wait and see how I react on the day. Hopefully I’ll be okay - I’ll need to be because people have been donating.
“I’ll make sure that I get there.”
Donations have already crashed through the £8000 barrier and that support will spur Mark on when the legs begin to get heavy.
Of course, he will be thinking of Dionne throughout the challenge.
“It gives you the wee incentive to kick on and push through when it gets difficult,” Mark explained to the PA.
“Kevin McGowne is going to be my support crew. He will be going all of the way with me. I just need to make sure I don’t get lost.
“The support has been great. The donations page is over £8000 now.
“I’ve had loads of videos from former team-mates and people that I played with. I’ve had Ally McCoist and Alan McInally too - and even Martin Compston from Line of Duty!”
You can donate to Mark’s challenge by visiting https:// www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/mark-reilly12