Limerick man who ran a marathon and a half every day for 20 days returns home
A LIMERICK man who ran the equivalent of a marathon and a half each day across 20 days has received a hero's welcome home.
Derek Mackessy from Patrickswell took on the incredible challenge in aid of the Irish Heart Foundation and Irish Cancer Society.
Derek ran from his place of work at the University of Limerick Sports Arena where he is a fitness co-ordinator.
From there, he headed south to Mizen Head in west Cork.
Then he headed to the most northerly point of Ireland at Malin Head in Co Donegal before returning to Limerick.
In all, he ran around 40 miles a day over the course of 20 days.
So far he’s raised almost €10,000 for the two charities with donations coming from as far as Chicago in the USA.
The same day he returned to Limerick following the unique challenge, it was straight down to his favourite pub, Charlie Malone’s at Wolfe Tone Street in the city centre for a well-deserved pint or three!
Here, friends and family welcomed him home, while he was also met by Limerick’s first citizen, Mayor Gerald Mitchell.
Mizen Head to Malin Head is the most common south to north challenge for long-distance runners in Ireland.
But Derek decided he would put his own spin on it.
“When I sat down and looked at what people had and had not done, I saw people had done Malin to Mizen, but never up and back down again. I now know why they didn't do this,” Derek laughed.
There was a personal reason Derek chose to raise money for Irish Cancer Society and Irish Heart Foundation.
“I did another challenge back in 2018 with Paddy Mockett and Brian Byrne. They gave up their time to help me. Since then, Paddy has had a quadruple bypass and he came through the other side. Brian has stage four cancer, but he's outliving the time the doctors gave him,” he said.
“I’ve had relatives and friends pass away with cancer and heart conditions. I don’t think there is any family in the country who hasn’t been affected with these things.”
It was cancer and heart patients which kept Derek going, dedicating his efforts on some days to the memory of friends.
“I met a lady in Tipperary on the way up who had been a survivor of breast cancer. She came over and gave me a hug and thanked me for taking part. It brought me to tears: it meant much more to me than just raising the money. I felt as if I was doing something for someone,” he added.
It was a well-deserved celebration for Derek back at Charlie Malone’s, where he sometimes pulls pints when they are short staffed.
He joked that proprietor Paddy Kelly was giving out to him that he didn’t run to the pub that night!
Donations are still being accepted. Visit https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/DerekMackessy.