Dedicated dad to take on 100 mile ultra marathon challenge for Derry's Jigsaw

Matthew Hardy will take on the gruelling, unique run along the mixed terrain of North Antrim’s coast to raise money for Jigsaw, which ‘provide support to young people and their families affected by Autism by organising a series of youth programmes and events in the local area’.

Matthew’s son Cillian was diagnosed with Autism and the dedicated dad told how he ‘has had challenges accessing more mainstream youth clubs and events due to communication issues’

"He loves attending the events that the Jigsaw Project organise and it has made such a difference to our family.”

The idea of Jigsaw, he added, is ‘to create a safe welcoming environment where the children can have fun whilst helping them gather life skills along the way’.

Matthew will run the 100 miles on June 3 and his willingness to take on the endeavour is even more impressive due to the fact he only started running during lockdown.

The family lived in England at that time and he began by running around his local neighbourhood, before ‘building it up’ to compete in marathons and ultra-marathons up to 75km.

The Norn Iron 100 Mile Ultra Marathon will be Matthew’s biggest challenge to date and he’s hoping to complete it in around 24 hours.

"I’m looking forward to the challenge and I’m also a little bit apprehensive, as I’ve never done anything like that before. You can’t really practice 100 miles. I’m hoping to do it in maybe 24 hours. You have a maximum of 34 hours, but I don’t want to be going that long, if I can avoid it. I think the winner last year did it in 20 hours – so I’m not going to win it. But I’m hoping that around 24 hours or even a bit after it would be great.”

The challenge, he adds, will be ‘mind over matter,’ but he knows he will be doing it for a very good cause.

He said he can’t think of anyone ‘who deserves some help more than Sonya and the Jigsaw Project and it feels like a nice way to say thanks for the support they have shown to my family since our arrival in Ireland late last year’.

If you’d like to donate, you can do so at www.gofundme.com/f/norn-iron-100-miles-ultra-marathon