Group to take on mammoth 190km run in 19 hours around Inishowen 100 for charity

On May 30, Gerard Doherty, Shane Doherty, Declan Irwin and Christian McGinley will collectively run non-stop along the route, which will be a total run of 47.5km per athlete with approximately 7,500ft of climbing in total.

All money raised will be divided between Buncrana Community Hospital, Nazareth House and Letterkenny University Hospital.

The challenge has really captured the imagination and support of the local community and in less than a week, over E18,000 has already been raised in donations on the dedicated Go Fund Me page. Gerard Doherty said they been overwhelmed by the support received so far and also told how the idea for the challenge came about. “The four of us train together all the time. This year, we had three marathons and an Iron Man planned and with everything that happened we had nothing then to train for. It was suggested we do a fundraiser - 19 miles for Covid-19 but then we thought it might not be long enough, so it was decided to do 19 hours steady and 190km.”

Gerard described the Inishowen 100 route as a ‘tough’ one but said all four men were looking forward to the challenge.

If restrictions are not lifted they will look at alternative routes. The run will be streamed live online. Gerard thanked everyone for their donations so far and added how ‘every single euro helps.’

You can donate to the challenge at https://www.gofundme.com/f/190km-Covid-19-Run-Challenge. See 190km Run Challenge on Facebook.