Mayo man to run from Croke Park to Old Head this weekend
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The Louisburgh native is set to run the 260km distance along with his friend from Leitrim with all donations in aid of children’s charity, Variety.
Over the years, Mayo people have gone on journeys to cheer on the Green and Red in Croke Park many the time as large crowds travelled up and down to Dublin. However, how many have ran the distance? Not many. Well, on Saturday, May 30 Basil McLeod and Fergal Gilmartin will be running from Croke Park in Dublin to Old Head in Louisburgh. McLeod, a native of Louisburgh will be going on the 260km run with his friend Gilmartin who is a hugely proud Leitrim man.
Anyone that knows of Basil McLeod will know he’s not shy of a challenge. In June of last year, the running enthusiast completed four marathons in four countries in just a space of five days. Earlier this year, the former Mayo GAA underage player ran a gruelling 100km as he made his way through the Sahara Desert.
While undertaking the hugely physical challenges, a sum of over €24,000 was raised for Mental Health Ireland. In recent weeks, the Louisburgh footballer has completed the Westport marathon as well as the Ballina half marathon.
Speaking exclusively to The Mayo News, Basil explained his love for running as he stated “The whole convenience of it, you can just go out and go on a run whenever and wherever you want. The feeling after a run is great and while there’s hard times where you're not feeling great, the feeling once you've finished a run is unbelievable. It’s almost like a rollercoaster and I just enjoy it.”
The idea to run from Croke Park came from Basil’s co-runner, Fergal Gilmartin. “We actually saw a group that were running from Malin head in Donegal to Mizen Head in Cork and Fergal said, we should do something like that.” McLeod admits as he admits he didn't need much convincing while the pair looked into the logistics straight away.
The duo will be completing the 260km trek in a relay format where it’ll be one person running while the other is following behind in a vehicle. Setting off at 5am on Saturday, May 30, the energetic and humorous pair will be aiming to arrive at Old Head at 5am on Monday, June 1 which is a Bank Holiday.
“We won’t be going on the motorway or anything like that, it’ll be back roads and side roads” McLeod explains. The exact route will see Basil and Fergal set off from Croke Park while running through Maynooth, Enfield, Kinnegad, Mullingar, Ballymahon, Lanesbrough, Roscommon Town, Williamstown, Claremorris, Castlebar, Westport and the final destination will be the stunning spectacle that is Old Head Beach in Louisburgh.
After raising over €24,000 for Mental Health Ireland, this upcoming adventure will be in aid of Variety, a children’s charity that does a lot of good work across Ireland. “I just think the idea of building habits from young in sport is important and Fergal was on the same wavelength. We thought it would be good to do something to kind of help getting kids into sport. That charity helps kids with disabilities and kids that wouldn't get the opportunity financially” Basil explained.
While en-route, Basil and Fergal would really appreciate any support and would welcome people of all abilities to come out and join them, even if it’s just for a few steps. All donations are appreciated and can be made via the iDonate website or clicking the following link here.