Team Geared Up

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) Running the length of the country was something myself and the other half always said we’d like to have a go at. At a sort-of leisurely pace, though with frequent stops! Someone planning on ploughing down the length of the country at a pace of 3 marathons a day is our own Richard Donovan.

From June 23rd to 27th, Richard Donovan will attempt a record-breaking run from Mizen Head to Malin Head. Run the Country is a genuinely tough endurance challenge. It’s not a marathon per day or a marathon per month, but more than 3 full marathons day after day after day after day against the clock. After four-and-a-half days, Richard hopes to have completed the equivalent of 14 marathons to finish the 365-mile distance in a new record time.

Richard who is best know for being the first person in the world to run a marathon at both the North and South Poles, is doing this in aid of Camp Claddagh, an outreach group of the Chernobyl Children’s Project. The goal is to raise €45,000 to bring 46 children to Galway in July for recuperation from the contaminated zones of Belarus.

Richard has the kinda biography that must have other ultra runners pretty scared:

He has won the South Pole Marathon, the Inca Trail Marathon, the Everest Challenge Marathon, the Antarctic 100km and the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race. He has set Guinness World Records for long distance treadmill running and is the current Irish record holder for 100 miles. Richard additionally holds the Antarctic 100km record and the record for running from Malin Head to Mizen Head. He has also completed the gruelling Trans 333 across the Sahara Desert and accompanied a British soccer player across the Atacama Desert for a one-hour BBC documentary.

Richard has already run the reverse direction (3 years ago) from Malin Head to Mizen Head and holds the record for that route.
We’ll be following you and rooting for you all the way Richard as you set out tomorrow, best of luck!!

-Aisling-

Quotes and images from Run The Country.