An Ennistymon man will complete his 52nd marathon in a year today after taking up a challenge set by broadcaster Ray Darcy.
This challenge was to complete 26.2 miles over a week for the whole year with the aim of getting 1000 people to raise €500 each. While the target was €500,000 in fact over two thousand people registered and to date over €750,000 has been already been collected and a total of 48 thousand marathons already run across the country.
Ennistymon-based firefighter Joe Crosse, who has already helped raise thousands of euro for charities and community groups, will set off this morning to complete the final marathon of the challenge. Joe is expected to be joined on sections of his final run by supporters including family, friends and work colleagues.
Joe said: “I was sitting at home probably around this time last year thinking of how I could keep my fitness up throughout 2021 when I saw the Ray’s Marathon Challenge advertised. I thought to myself, I can manage that. So I signed myself up.”
This was set up in aid of the LauraLynn Foundation. It was named after two sisters Laura and Lynn who died within 2 years of each other. This foundation offers palliative care to children; they also provide supportive care services to children with life limiting conditions and their families.
Joe said: “I’ve already finished 51 full marathons this year and I aim to finish my last one on December 29th. In all honesty there have been some weekends when running a marathon after a hard week at work was the very last thing my mind or my body wanted to do but once I hit the road and settled into the miles it became easier.”
He added: “Over the year I have built up a great little support team that have come out on the road with me every week. I’d like to thank my friends, family, neighbours and colleagues from Ennistymon Fire Station for this.
The support from other stations in Clare has been unreal too. A special thanks goes to the people who have donated already and to the people of Ennistymon who have supported me with waves and car beeps and the odd one telling me how I am a glutton for punishment. But on a serious note people may not realise it but that support when I’m out on the road makes the miles seem a whole lot shorter and I’d like to thank everybody for that throughout the year.”
Joe will set off at 7am today and is expected to finish his final marathon of the year between 11.30am and midday.
If anybody would like to support this fantastic cause with Joe please click here.
