Dundalk man Mark's Howth to Salthill cycle raises an incredible €10,000 for charity

Last Friday Dundalk resident Mark Nugent added another achievement to his impressive record when he completed the 265 kilometres cycle from Howth to Salthill on a hand bike.

Mark suffered a spinal cord injury when he was knocked off his bike by a truck on his way to kayak training in April 2016.

Before the accident, the 42-year-old, who is originally from Kildare, was involved in a wide range of sports - “any game with a stick or a ball and I’ve played it”.

He was also an experienced cyclist and runner, completing four marathons and taking part in numerous charity events.

His life-changing injury didn’t dampen his determination, however, with Mark completing the 380 mile Mizen to Malin Head cycle in 2019 and now completing a cross-country cycle to boot.

Mark took on the challenge in aid of the “As Darragh Did” charity setup by Andrew McGinley in memory of his children Conor, Darragh and Carla, and raised an incredible €10,000.

Reflecting on how his son Darragh was involved in so much locally, from scouts to GAA to Drama, Andrew wanted to encourage more people to get involved in their local groups ….. as Darragh did.

As Darragh Did aims to advance community welfare and development through the provision of support and funding to local clubs, societies, groups and projects to enable them to increase participation and to promote social inclusion and positive integration.

The Charity has donated to local groups in Dundalk having sponsored jerseys for Bay FC.

When the charity was chosen as the benefactor of this year’s Galway Cycle, Mark decided he wanted to do his bit.

“I was originally going to cycle from Maynooth to Galway but then one of the lads said sure why not add on a couple of kilometres at the start and at the end.”

“It was a brilliant week,” said Mark. “It all culminated at the end when we touched the wall at the diveboard there in Salthill.”

“It was tough. [Thursday] last week was the toughest day. Tuesday, we cruised along ok and we weren’t under any pressure.

My arms were quite heavy on Wednesday morning but they loosened out fairly quickly. We rolled along and did nearly 100k that day, and then Thursday was a rough day. The adrenaline gets you there on Friday.

“My target was to average 15km/h all the way, and we averaged 15.5km/h in total, but that was including a really bad day on Thursday when we averaged just thirteen.”

“The body is ok but my arms are sore. On Sunday when we got back I think I was still on a rush about it so as the week went on my arms have got a bit tighter.”

Mark was ably supported by a team of six friends, including his cycling ever-present companion Mary Fitzgerald, who also completed the Mizen to Malin cycle with him in 2019.

Also there to see Mark off on Tuesday was the Louth W.A.T.C.H (Walking And Tandem Cycling for Health) Club.

“The W.A.T.C.H. Club came out in unbelievable numbers on Tuesday, there were three tandem bikes and then about six able bodied cyclists that came all the way out from Dundalk to Hueston station and cycled out to Howth and then all the way to Enfield with us.

To go through Dublin City Centre and into Fairview and getting the beeps from people going along in Dublin was remarkable.

Mark stopped off just outside Leixlip at his parent’s house for a moment that meant a lot to him.

“To have Paul, Louise and Margaret, who are my cycling buddies, there and to be able to share that moment with them and my mam and dad was great.

Mark says Andrew McGinley, the founder of the charity, was blown away by the support from everybody, “he was out at Howth at the start, he was very emotional at the end in Galway, he made a great speech on Friday night thanking everybody.

“He’s such a good guy for everything that he’s gone through. He’s very humble and down to earth. We’ve kind of become friends as opposed to anything else.”

Mark also praised the “phenomenal” people of Dundalk who gave him great support, but moral and financial, including thousands raised from a bucket collection in the Marshes at the end of February.

Donations can still be made to the As Daragh Did charity through Mark’s iDonate page at ‘Mark & Mary’s Cycle Fundraising Page,’ with all money raised going to the charity.