This article is from page 26 of the 2010-02-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 26 JPG
A CHILDCARE facility in Sixmile- bridge is to benefit financially from a mammoth marathon challenge being undertaken by a local resident.
Tom Enright has set himself the task of running nine marathons this year in Ireland and the proceeds will go to Bridge Kidz. Bridge Kidz is a subsidiary of Sixmilebridge and Dis- trict Community Complex and pro- vides a childcare service for children in the area.
Tom (36) has seen the excellent service provided by Bridge Kidz as his youngest son Dylan (2) attends on a regular basis. He was so im- pressed with the facility that he de- cided to raise money for the group and hopes to accumulate €10,000 over the year.
He has set his sights on running marathons in Connemara (April), Limerick, Belfast Burren and Newry (May), Cork (June), Longford (Au- gust), Dingle (September), Dublin (October) and Sixmilebridge (De- cember).
It will be a tough challenge, not least running three marathons in May. Two of those will be run in as many days as the Limerick run on May 2 will be followed by the Bel- fast marathon just 24 hours later. The challenge will get off to a tricky start in Connemara as he has signed up to do the ultra marathon, which is 39 miles, on a tough course.
As part of the challenge, Tom is hoping to encourage 10 people to take part in the Cork marathon and he will provide training for those in- terested in this.
Tom, who 1s a native of Charleville, has ran 17 marathons over the past four years and last year took part in a Clare Crusaders cycle from Malin
Head to Mizen Head.
He explained his decision to run nine marathons this year.
“It started off as a new year’s reso- lution, but it has got a bit more seri- ous than that,’ he said.
He is hoping to encourage people to join him in running part of or all the Cork marathon in June either in- dividually or as part of a relay team. “We are hoping to get 10 people to
sing up and full support will be given to them. All that is required is a will- ingness to do it and a wish to raise some funds for Bridge Kidz,’ said ‘Tom.
It will be a tough challenge, but he is looking forward to it. “I enjoy it because I get a buzz out of it. | am doing something that I enjoy,” he PHO
His ultimate aim would be to raise
€10,000 over the year and is hopeful that he will get the support of the lo- cal community in Sixmilebridge and across the county. “It’s hard to call how much we will raise. It depends on how many people sign up for the marathon in Cork,’ he said.