Tipperary man begins epic 1,400km fundraising run from John O'Groats to Land's End

Tipperary man Ben Banaghan, 25, from Kildangan, this Monday began a grueling run taking him from John O'Groats in Scotland, on what will be an 18-day mammoth run of approximately 1,400km/875 miles to Land's End in Britain.

He is aiming to run two marathons a day for 18 days to help raise money and awareness for two charities, Mental Health UK & a Roscommon-based charity, Join Our Boys. 

Mental Health UK is a mental health charity which helps promote positive, mental health, wellbeing and recovery. Their vision is to empower people living/experiencing a mental health problem and to provide them with advice and support.

The Join Our Boys Trust was established in 2014, after three Roscommon brothers - Archie and twin brothers George and Isaac - were all diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a fatal genetic muscle wasting disease, that currently has no treatment or cure. 

Sadly, Archie, at the young age of 16, lost his battle with the disease and passed away on July 7. His dying wish was to find a cure for his twin brothers.

George and Isaac, now 12, are paralysed from the waist down and are confined to wheelchairs. Their upper body strength is also diminishing. 

The aim of the Join Our Boys Trust is twofold, to fund and fit out a purpose-built house that will accommodate the Naughton family for as long as the boys require it and also to help fund research projects which if successful, would slow down progression of the disease considerably. Their hope is that, in time, other treatments or even a cure will be developed.

Ben took up running last year during Covid, he quickly became hooked and successfully ran the length of Ireland, from Mizen Head in Cork, to Malin Head in Donegal over seven days. He raised over €55,000 for Mental Health Ireland and for Templederry woman, Alannah Sheehan, who had been recently diagnosed at the time with GBM.

Ben is now based in London, working as an assistant construction manager on a Waterloo Station Project. His employer, ISG, have made an amazing gesture to match whatever money is raised.

This is a huge opportunity to potentially raise £1m for two very deserving charities, so every donation, no matter how big or small, will help make such a huge difference. 

You can follow and support Ben as he undertakes this phenomenal challenge on his Instagram page: b_banaghan

You will find the link to Ben's donation page on: mhukandisg.enthuse.com