Almost there .................

I cannot believe that I am almost at the end of this challenge.  Saturday will be marathon number 11 in Dingle and I am looking forward to meeting some of the competitors from the quadrathon in Donegal.  Unfortunately Pat, Gavin and Colin will not be there to support me as the soccer season begins for Gavin and Colin, however Noel and some of the girls from Killarney are taking part in the half marathon so I will have company for the first few miles ......................  I also hope to be joined by another friend but not to put any pressure on him all will be revealed in next weeks blog.

I am relatively injury free with just a slight niggle on my left knee so for the last few training session I have switched from running to cycling, at this stage I definitely do not want to pick up an injury.

The plan between Dingle and Dublin is to get back in the pool (of which I used to do a lot of), keep up training with Ronan in Victory Fitness (of which he guarantees that it is going to get tougher), keep running, remain injury free and to enjoy marathon number 12 in Dublin.

12 months ago next week Pat was preparing for surgery in the Mercy, we will be forever grateful to everyone involved in Pat's care in the Mercy hospital.

The support that I  have received has been overwhelming to say the least, this has certainly been a journey and one that I have thoroughly enjoyed raising vital funds for cancer research

Total raised so far is        €18195.80


For anyone that would like to donate please use http://fundraise.mercyfundraising.ie/marathonbrenda

Please share my facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/mercymarathons

I survived 4 marathons in 4 days ....................................

I can only describe the quadrathon as one of the best events that I have ever taken part in.  I arrived at the start line on day 1 and soon discovered that I was one of the few participants who had never done such an event before.............The 4 days consisted of running around the Inishowen 100.  I met the most amazing people.  Ken who had taken part in a race in Belfast only 3 weeks before (this consisted of running around a track for 24 hours)!!!!, Derek from West Limerick who just runs and runs ................., Karen from the UK who is currently on her 92nd marathon and Barry from Sligo who without his company on Day 4 it would have been an uphill struggle to the end, there were so many other amazing participants that I met over the four days that it would be impossible to name everyone.

I had given myself a target of 20 hours for the 105.80 miles and was delighted to finish at a time of 19 hours and 20 minutes.  Pat, Gavin and Colin were there every few miles, to motivate, feed me and soothe any aching muscles and by the end of day 1 they were more well known that I was !!!
Well done to Ger who took part in the marathon on Day 3.

From the minute we arrived in Donegal we were welcomed by Margaret, John Francis, JJ and Nuala and their hospitality was much appreciated.  Thank you to everyone that sent messages of support before, after and during each race, all of these helped to keep me motivated over the four days.  I never thought that I would ever be able to complete such a challenging event and now that I have you never know what lies ahead .......................

2 marathons of the 12 left, this week will be rest and then it will be back to training for Dingle on Sept 5th with an unbelievable total raised to date of 18,085.80 euro.

I cannot believe the support that I am receiving throughout this challenge.  Una is there whenever I need her to make sure that I remain injury free,  a phone call to Annie on Monday morning and it was not a problem for her to fit me in to get my feet back to normal.

I had thought that I would finish in Donegal and Pat, Gavin and Colin would be waiting for me and this is who was there to welcome me at the finish line......................

                                                          THANK YOU SO MUCH

Don't forget To donate please use http://fundraise.mercyfundraising.ie/marathonbrenda

Don't forget to share my facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/mercymarathons

Thank you for the good wishes .....................................

Thank you to everyone for all of the good wishes that I have received over the last number of days.  I am about to take on the biggest challenge of my life and to say that I am nervous is an understatement. I am hoping that once we set off for Donegal in the morning that the nerves will be left in Kerry ...............



Donations keep coming in and we are forever grateful, I would never have imagined that before I set off for Donegal that we would have so much raised, 16,725 euro.  Thank you to everyone that has helped and donated in any way.

Over 1,200 people from Kerry are treated at The Mercy every year.

In 2016 they need to raise half a million euro from the public to support the development of an advanced ‘Regional Centre for Gastroenterology’ that will lead the way in diagnosing and treating conditions of the Gastric system including life-saving care for patients from Kerry and Cork dealing with Oesophageal, Stomach and Bowel Cancers.

I have been asked by several people am I ready for the quadrathon? Without the help of the following there is no way that I would be as prepared as I am, I am just hoping that nothing goes wrong on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Una my physio has been brilliant and without her expertise I would not be as ready as I am, I have a list of strict instructions from her on what to do after each of the 4 marathons.

Ronan in Victory Fitness devised a plan on how to work on my strength and flexibility and even though they have been tough sessions twice a week it has been well worth it.

Eamonn in Adrenalin Sports has been very patient as always, at this stage I think that we have analysed every gel and protein bar available and finally at 6pm yesterday evening decisions were made, whatever about my legs I have enough to eat in Donegal :-)

The bags and packed and I am ready to go .........................  hopefully when I arrive back in Kerry on Sunday night I will have covered a distance of 104.80 miles !!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't forget To donate please use http://fundraise.mercyfundraising.ie/marathonbrenda

Don't forget to share my facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/mercymarathons