'A great buzz': Bishop of Raphoe completes North West 10k
Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ is a regular 5k runner and upped his distance for Monday's North West 10k in Letterkenny
Among the 757 participants at Monday’s North West 10k was The Bishop of Raphoe, Alan McGuckian SJ.
Bishop McGuckian completed the 10k in a fine 56 minutes and 31 seconds.
The 69-year-old is a regular attendee at the Letterkenny Parkrun on a Saturday morning.
He upped his distance on Bank Holiday Monday to take part in the 25th staging of the North West 10k.
“There was a great buzz,” Bishop McGuckian told Donegal Live.
“It was great. It was tougher than normal, I’m a 5k runner. You think you’ll take it handy until you start running. Going up the Port Road was very tough, but it was great.”
A native of Cloughmills in County Antrim, he was ordained Bishop of Raphoe in 2017.
He completed his 100th Parkrun in 2019 and enjoyed the experience of Monday’s 10k.
He said: “Above all, at the start and all the way through there was a great spirit, people clapping, roaring and shouting as we went along.
“It’s a great feel-good event. It’s a great thing to have in the town. It does us all good.”
Clocking to the finish in less than 60 minutes represented a good outing for the popular cleric.
He said: “I’m tireder than I normally am. The legs are sore. For me, it was pretty good. Not bad!”
Since the first running of the North West 10k in May 1997, almost €834,000 has been raised for 36 charities.
This year the three benefitting charities are Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Ireland Donegal Branch, the Donegal Diabetes Parents Support Group and the No Barriers Foundation.