Dundalk man Mark takes on Howth to Salthill cycle for charity

Having completed the 380 mile Mizen to Malin Head cycle in 2019, local handcyclist Mark Nugent is gearing up to cross the Country this time from Howth to Salthill.

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 now taking on his cross country cycle at the end of March in aid of the ‘As Darragh Did’ charity.

As Darragh Did is a charity setup by Andrew McGinley in memory of his children Conor, Darragh and Carla.
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 have 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 and it turns out it’ll be about 70 kilometres we’ll be adding on [to the Galway Cycle].”

That “couple of kilometres” will see Mark cycle 265 kilometres in total, travelling with a crew of six, including local woman Mary Fitzgerald and local man Ciaran Fox, and will be accompanied by a follow car and a lead car.

“We’re aiming to go a very short distance on the first day from Howth to just beyond Maynooth, and then we’ve got two big days of 100kms on each day and then we’ve got a short distance from outside Galway into Salthill on the Friday.”

A fundraising stationary cycle was held in the Marshes last Sunday raising a total of €1895 with text donations and QR scans yet to be added on.

“The people of Dundalk were phenomenal. The Marshes put us in a great spot, we got lots of traction,” says Mark.
Donations can 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.