Newry man to take to the road for The Road Ahead NI

THERE will be a long road ahead for a Newry man who has taken it upon himself to run the equivalent of ten half marathons to raise funds for The Road Ahead N.I charity.

Patrick Heaney, who when he is not strapping on his running shoes for a good cause works as a legal administrator , plans to run the distance from the Newry townland in County Wicklow to his home town  to raise funds for the aforementioned charity.

Having been personally acquainted with Karl Heaney whose mother Monica co-founded The Road Ahead N.I  in the wake of her son's tragic death  from an RTC  it goes without saying that the eponymous charity  is very close to Patrick's heart.

However, whilst the memory of his former footballing comrade will  be with Mr Heaney on every step  he takes along the over 130 mile trip from Wicklow to Down this  herculean undertaking  also serves as a  poignant tribute to the memory of his most beloved mother Joanne who tragically passed away 18 years ago aged only 45. 

As Patrick himself explains many of the routes which he intends to traverse  on this daring dash up  the eastern side of the island  are also  were his mother instilled in him his love for staying active    many years ago whilst  on family holidays to the south.

Hardest thing he has ever done

"The plan is 10 half marathons in 10 days from Newry county Wicklow to Newry county Down" said Patrick.

"It will be a mixture of both running and walking depending on who is doing it with me on a day to day basis. It is more than likely going to be the hardest thing that I have ever done. The primary goal is for me to do it by myself. My younger brother has said that he is going to do it with me but I am hoping that we will have support coming up the country as well were people can  join us for a day or two as and where they are fit.

"I am doing it because family and friends  have been affected by Road Traffic collisions, so I just thought I could do my wee bit to raise as much money as we possibly can for them.

"I also played football with the son of one  of the charities founders, Karl Heany, and I trained with him the night he passed away. It is good to give back to the charity  where they can help families that are in need."

Whilst wanting to afford The Road Ahead N.I with as much assistance as possible in perpetuating their promise to provide support to anyone affected by a road crash, an equally admirable goal of Patrick’s with this self-styled Newry to Newry event is to also perpetuate the memory of his mother Joanne who first set him along the road as a runner many years ago.

"We were very heavily involved in running when we were growing up. My mum would have been our athletics coach when we were younger and we would have travelled the country nearly every weekend.

"My mum would have been the best of the whole lot of us. I have three younger brothers. She would have been our athletic coach right from the ages of 3 or 4.

“There was not a weekend were we were not down the country with a packed lunch in a mini bus somewhere. We were competing right the way through to the time when she passed.

"We would have spent a lot of time in Newry county Wicklow on holidays in and around that area. I just thought when I found out that there was another Newry on the Island of Ireland I just thought that it would be quite nostalgic that we could go from Newry to Newry in memory of her and incorporate those places that we would have ran as we come back up the country.

“The plan is to get into as many towns and cities that we use to run in as a mark of respect to her and thanks for all the memories that we had growing up as children as well."

Mental support

For Patrick, who use to be a seasoned runner in his university days but has since fallen out of practice due to an injury, the prospect of having to run ten consecutive half marathons in the space of ten days may seem like quite the daunting undertaking.

However, as the 37-year-old related he is already conceiving of what his training plan will be at the start of next year to help prepare him for the many kilometres that will lay before him when he takes to the tarmac in July of next year.

This rigorous training regime  coupled with what he has described as "mental level" of support from the community  will be more than sufficient to ensure that he will receive a standing ovation once he crosses the finishing line.    

"I use to be a seasoned runner. However injures have taken their toll over the last couple of years. However when I was in university I would have been swift enough running a half marathon in and around 1:28 to 1:29.

“It is a distance that I am familiar with but it is more than likely going to be the hardest thing that I have ever done.

“ I will be 37 next summer so this will be my last big mad challenge. However it is all being done in the memory of the greatest woman I ever knew and for a charity that is so close to so many people’s hearts within Northern Ireland as a whole.

"I am currently injured and going through physio but the plan is to make sure that by the time we get to the middle of March or April that we are talking about potentially doing at least three half marathons a week.

“It is going to be a very long process, with working full time and having a life outside of it  you are trying to find days were it is not lashing and you can get out to do a solid four to six hours out on the road.  

"It won’t be easy because some of the routes that we will be running are going to be on roads with difficult terrain and massive hills. It is making sure that we do more than enough to the point where by the starting line of next year we are well prepared for it.

"The amount of support we have had already has been mental. The two main sponsors that we have had are Rory Nicky Faloon of the Windmill bar and Coleman Smith of Morgan Solutions.

“ I put the idea to them and they bought into it straight away. They are the two main sponsors on the T-shirt as well.

"I designed the jersey. The reason why it is green and white is because these would have been my mum's colour's. We were Saint Patrick's athletic club back in the day and we wore green and white. I have to also give a shout out to my good friend Ruth Milroy McCabe who designed the Newry to Newry logo that is on the back of it where it gives you the starting point and finishing point.

“Also Rory Craven of sixth sense sport. They are the ones that are producing them for us. The T-Shirts themselves have come from the three of us. We are collaborating together to get to the finishing point where they are on sale at the moment.

“ What we will probably do in the new year because money is so tight for everyone we will relaunch the shop again and we will get a just giving link on the go.

“Our Launch  night is going to be Saturday November 22   in the Windmill bar in Church Street in Newry. This is where we are going to do the presentation of the jerseys. The kick of time of about 8pm."