Newbliss marathon runner set to break Irish record

Shane McCarville is supremely confident that he has the stamina to create a new Irish record. 

When The Anglo-Celt's Sean McMahon spoke to him last Wednesday he said that he has 30 marathons completed, 28 regular marathons over 26.2 gruelling miles, and two ultra marathons which are 32 ultra-gruelling miles long.

Shane expects to run into the history books well ahead of schedule and is endeavouring to raise €10,000 for the Irish Heart Foundation. In fact by the end of the year he hopes to have obliterated the record of 47 marathons and have completed 70 marathons! That will bring his overall life-time total to 87.

'I plan to set a record that will stand for a long-long time', said Shane.

Shane started running marathons in 2008, with his first outing at the Dublin marathon, completing the run in a respectable 4 hours and 27 minutes.

The following year he decided to double his marathon escapades by running the Belfast marathon in addition to entering the Dublin marathon.

In 2010, he added Dingle to his, by then regular entry to the Belfast and Dublin events. Despite recovering from injury, Shane still managed to negotiate the Dublin marathon in October 2011.

Remarkable

His marathon running reached a new pinnacle during 2012, when he took part in no less than 10 races, kicking off his remarkable achievements in Belfast. He completed five of the races over the short duration of five weeks; two of them back-to-back marathons! The first was the Causeway Coast extreme marathon, which was off road and went over mountains just to make it more energy sapping, and then he set off to do the Donegal marathon along the Atlantic drive. Marathon Club Ireland (MCI) and they give out bronze medals to those who complete 25 marathons, silver of those finishing 50 marathons and gold for anyone with the capacity to complete 100 marathons. Having become a member of MCI he was awarded a bronze medal, and in a fortnight’s time will upgrade to a silver medal.

'By this time next year I will hold the gold for 100 marathons', said Shane.

Determination

Between marathons and training runs since January, Shane has covered 1,064.73 miles. His determination to succeed is central to ensuring he realises his ambition.

'Over the last six months I have learned so much about myself, making new friends in the 32 counties of Ireland', said Shane.

'This challenge started on January 12th, 2013, where I said I would run 52 marathons in 52 weeks. The key here for any of you is that I said I would. I could have said I’m going to try.

'Over the next month I will face my biggest test, - 10 marathons in 10 consecutive days and I will finish on day 10,' said Shane.

He was due to run his 31st marathon in Waterford last weekend and the 10 marathons in 10 days challenge commences tomorrow, Thursday, July 4 in Sixmilebridge and will involve running slightly over 262 miles in total.

'I plan to run day one around the 4 hours 30 minutes mark, and I want to finish on the 3 hours 50 minutes mark,' explained Shane.

'I will be lining up with guys who have run 700 marathons in their lifetime from England, and the current world record holder Travis Wilcox with 114 marathons and Pat O’Keeffe, chairman of Marathon Club Ireland who has completed 101 marathons.'

After his exploits in Sixmilebridge, Shane plans to take a five day break and then return to pounding the tarmac in the Killarney marathon. Following a further five days rest, he will be lining up with the world number one and Irish record breaker for a 100 kilometer road race, , Keith White, in the inaugural Waterfront Ultra Marathon over a distance of 37 miles in Courtmacsherry in West Cork.

Times

His times for the marathons is in and around the 3 hrs 50 mins to 4hr mark. He ran 3hrs 47min this year in the Derry marathon, then got into his car and drove straight to Cork and ran the marathon there in 3hr 54 mins.

Shane estimates that, all things going to plan, he will participate in his 52nd marathon this year in Dingle on September 7. By the time he sets off on that most scenic of Kerry runs, he hopes he will already have an Irish record to his name, and will simply be adding to it.

'I will break the Irish record on the Quadrathon, which takes place in August. That involves four extreme marathons in four consecutive days – that will see me running my 48th marathon, which will establish the new record.' These extreme marathons take place up extreme hills in Donegal.

Higher power

Shane says he was inspired to attempt the epic challenge in memory of his late father, Pat, who passed away in 2003. 'The day he died, I went out and ran – and now when I’m running, I feel that he is with me. You need to have some luck and protection from a higher power, and I know he is with me all the time.'

Shane says he would like to thank all the people in Monaghan and Cavan who offer him encouragement with his challenge. Upper most of those to whom he is indebted his wife Denise, with whom he has two children, Jamie (4), and Chloe who will be two in August, and also his mother Rosemary.

Shane would also like to hear from any companies which would like to offer sponsorship for his ongoing challenge and the Irish Heart Foundation. Shane will be happy to give a motivational talk to their workforce as part of the arrangement.