PAUL AND KAREN GETTING SET FOR A TOUGH 990KM WALK FOR MS

HUSBAND AND WIFE, PAUL AND KAREN MCGOVERN, WILL EMBARK ON A ‘ONCE IN A LIFETIME’ WALK FOR MS IN JUNE. AND IT’S NO ORDINARY WALK. HUBERT MURPHY REPORTS

THERE is a steelyness in the eyes, a raw ‘can do’ attitude in his voice, a strange kind of driven passion that you associate more with professional cyclists and long distance runners.

But Paul McGovern is different. Here is a man intent on driving his body to the last for a cause. It is the ultimate challenge, a test of endurance to match any.

For seven weeks this summer, Paul will walk from Mizen Head in the south to Malin Head in Co Donegal. It’s 990km and a truly gruelling trek - even for a fully fit, top notch athlete.

Paul does not have that luxury. A few weeks ago he was diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis SPMS.

As he walks from his front door to the nearby road in Domin, near Dunleer, his legs shake. But in the nine years since he was diagnosed with the disease his attitude to it has been his soulmate - it won’t be winning any day soon if he has his way.

Sitting beside him is his other soulmate in all of this, his wife, Karen.

She has witnessed MS attempt to stifle Paul’s spirit, deliver him ups and downs, but where there’s that strength in her husband’s eyes, hers glint for the man beside her.

But when they return from their epic journey, she’ll face another struggle.

Her decision to walk side by side with the man she loves means she’ll be losing her job.

‘If it means I can help raise thousands of euro for thousands of people l’m prepared to make the sacrifice. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something great, to meet amazing people and reach that target of €100,000, I just think we’ll get there’, she adds. With a background in retail management, she knows when she returns the thought of no work will hit, but sometimes you have to take a chance in life and this is her moment.

Paul and Karen will depart on their epic journey from Cork on Jume 3. They’ll walk all the way to Donegal over the course of the next 49 days, ending on July 21.

They’ll average 31kms a day, driven on by a desire to help others.

‘We’ll make that €100,000 mark, we must’, that defiant tone in Paul’s voice raised again.

They’ve been told that sum will pay for the ‘Get the Balance Right’ exercise programme, operated by MS Ireland for sufferers from all over the country, for a year.

‘ To be able to say we did that would be incredible’, Karen adds.

MS can impact in many ways, but for Paul, he just can’t wait to get his feet onto the road.

‘When you are walking there’s no yesterday and no tomorrow, just today, just now. You are in the moment .’

Two years ago, the pair walked from Salthill to Dunleer and raised €30,000 for MS. This one is an Everest type challenge compared to that, but both are calmness personified in the face of an avalanche of pain, fatigue and organisation.

For the pair, finding time to train has been hard. Paul works in construction at Poolbeg and heads for work early. By the time he arrives home, the MS kicks in, leaving him tired and drained.

But he vows that come June his soul will be lifted by a new journey of hope and pride, the Irish countryside and its people his inspiration.

‘At the moment we have one night booked for accommodation, we just have to find 48 more’, Karen remarks. But it’s that Herculean spirit that saw her home before.

On their last trek from Galway, she dislocated

her knee and walked on it for four days. ‘I couldn’t give up, I couldn’t leave this fella’, that twinkle in the eyes sparkling afresh.

Paul says MS is a demoralising illness but he wants this walk to show it in a different light. ‘If you want to call something impossible then this is it. But it will be a stroll’, he claims.

‘I know I couldn’t do this next year, but each day I prove a point by getting up and going to work. This walk distracts the mind from the insanity.’

The pair will arrive back to Dunleer on Saturday July 22 but have nothing planned about a homecoming. Perhaps that will be the moment the Dunleer spirit will overflow with pride and passion to honour two extraordinary people....

May ‘Going Away’ night

AS part of the great Wild Atlantic Walk, Paul and Karen - and friends - have organised a ‘Going Away’ event on May 12 in the Grove in Dunleer.

Liam Reynolds has come on board to help with the night and it will see Eugene Conlon act as MC and introduce a host of names, including The Full Shilling band, Stephen Callan and John Flood, Nash, Paul Kiernan & Jennifer Reynolds and others to be finalised.

Entry is €10 and tickets can be had from the Grove House and Centra Dunleer.

They are hoping to get a signed jersey (from somewhere!) to auction on the night so if anybody knows as soccer, rugby or GAA heads, help would be appreciated.

They also have a fundraiser planned for April 1 in the neighbourhood Dunnes in Dundalk and have a slot from 10am to 6pm so any volunteers willing to come along can make contact at their Facebook page, Paul & Karen’s Walk, MS Ireland 2017.

I know I couldn’t do this next year, but each day I prove a point by getting up and going to work. This walk distracts the mind from the insanity.