Laragh athletes raise €2K for suicide charity

Two members of Laragh Athletic Club, Vincent Craig and Brian O’Reilly, raised more than €2,000 for SOSAD when taking part in a mammoth cycle from Mizen Head in Cork to Malin Head in Donegal.

Moving through the West of Ireland, the ‘Cycling Against Suicide’ Mizen to Malin Challenge took place from Saturday, September 18, to Friday, September 24, with participants completing an average distance of more than 120 kilometres per day over the six-day event.

This year’s challenge saw 130 cyclists take part, with the peloton travelling at an average of 25kmph as they passed from Mizen to Killarney on day one; Killarney to Lahinch on day two; Lahinch to Oranmore on the third day; Oranmore to Castlebar on day four; Castlebar to Donegal Town on day four; and finally Donegal to Malin Head on the fifth and last day.

The challenge is all the more testing, both mentally and physically, given the unpredictability of Irish weather.

“It’s all a bit of fun,” said Brian of the gruelling 670km journey. “Between the two of us we’ve raised more than €2,000, and some of the €1,800 we paid, I think some of that goes to the charity as well.”

Brian is from the Crosskeys area and Vincent from Drumnavanagh in Cavan Town. Both men feel it is important to help raise awareness for suicide prevention .

Both men are seasoned athletes, so the Mizen to Malin Challenge was just another box to tick for the men who have represented the Laragh Athletic Club for more than 40 years.

“We’re entering our twilight years but thank God we’re still on the right side of it, and we’ll keep doing it for as long as we still can,” laughs Brian.

Incredibly Brian is preparing to fly out to France to take part in the Paris Marathon on Sunday, October 17. It’s not Brian’s first marathon, counting off Boston, New York, London among others, and from his speaking to the Celt, it doesn’t sound like it will be his last either.

Brian’s fastest marathon running time to date has been sub two hours and 45 minutes. “I’ve been doing them a long time now. My fastest time was 2.42 or something like that. That was a few years back. I’d still do it now though in under four, maybe even three and a half if I was pushed.”