Coreen to walk Inishowen 100 for charity in memory of her brother

Coreen Robinson, who lives in Buncrana, will celebrate her 50th birthday this October.

Her brother, Mark Friel, sadly passed away from a heart attack at just 39 years old and would have celebrated his 50th birthday last September.

Ahead of her birthday, Coreen has set herself the personal challenge of walking the entire route of the Inishowen 100 to raise funds for the Irish Heart Foundation.

She will set off on the challenge on August 2 and will complete the route over six days.

Coreen told the Journal: “There were just 13 months between me and Mark. He was just 39 when he died and left behind a really young family.

“I’ve been wanting to do a fundraiser in memory of Mark for a long time. I thought my 50th in October would be a good time and that the Inishowen 100 would be a good route. It’s both a personal challenge for me and also to mark Mark’s 50th. With all the restrictions with Covid 19, I wanted to keep everything as local as I could.”

The first day will see Coreen walk from her home in Clonbeg in Buncrana across the Gap and into Ballyliffin. The second day, she will walk from Ballyliffin to Banba’s Crown in Malin Head and on the third day, the route will take her from Banba’s Crown to Culdaff. On day four, she will walk from Culdaff to Greencastle, followed by Greencastle to Muff on day five. On the sixth and final day, she will walk from Muff, back home to Clonbeg.

It’s a big challenge, but one she is really looking forward to.

Coreen told how she has always been a fan of going on walks, but has found an increased love for it during lockdown.

“I really enjoy walking and get great peace out of it. During the first lockdown, I did a good bit of walking and realised I love really long walks.

“I’m, really looking forward to doing the Inishowen 100. It’s so beautiful. I did a test walk recently from Buncrana to Ballyliffin and I really enjoyed it.”

Coreen will be staying in hotels and B&Bs in the nights between each walk and is funding everything herself, so every single cent raised will go towards the Irish Heart Foundation.

While she’s hoping for good weather, she won’t be too perturbed if there’s some rain. “I took up sea swimming recently and it definitely changes your perspective on the weather.”

You can donate to Coreen’s fundraiser on www.justgiving.com/fundraising/coreen-robinson