Templemore man, Paddy Ryan will attempt to run 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Dublin to Electric Picnic in Stradbally, County Laois in aid of 3 charities. Paddy is completing this run as part of the RaboDirect Tour de Picnic.
The run will take part on Friday September 4th leaving Tallaght Stadium, Dublin at 4am and hoping to arrive in Stradbally no later than 4pm the same day.
While the rest of those completing the 80 kilometres from Tallaght Stadium to the Electric Picnic campsite will be getting there by bike, Paddy revealed his reasons behind deciding to run the distance. “I have run 8 marathons so far, each of which was a new challenge. I have always planned to run an Ultra Marathon and after speaking with Brian (event organiser), we felt this would be a great opportunity for me to complete the 50 mile run, but also a great way to get publicity for the fundraising efforts and try to raise as much for charity as possible”.
Overall, Paddy aims to raise between €2000 to €3000 for the events charities, for Special Olympics Ireland, the Irish Youth Foundation, and ISPCC Childline.
He said running the 80km distance on September 4 would not be possible without the support of RaboDirect Tour de Picnic whose organisers have arranged for a cyclist to lead the way. Tour de Picnic’s organiser Brian McDermott from Ranelagh, Dublin said the charity event is the last chance for people to acquire Electric Picnic tickets. “It’s been a great success, we do it every year and so far we’ve raised over €1.2 million, cycled over 400,000km, and burned over 20.4m calories. 6000 people have taken part.”
“We have the last few tickets for Electric Picnic. It’s the only way that you can still get a ticket to Electric Picnic. Anyone who does it gets very well looked after, they get a kit and all their food and they get their bags transported down there, and we have ice baths afterwards,” he said.
Paddy who is a member of Duleek & District Athletic Club thanked the members of the club for their support for the run. “They have been great really. Some of the guys in the club have run ultra-marathons before so were able to give me advice about what to do and what to expect. It’s great to have the support of a club behind you for a run like this”. Paddy went on to thank a Dublin business, Satellite Ireland who have offered to help Paddy on his way. “When Dean heard of the challenge, he thought it was great way to raise funds for charities. He was interested from the get go and offered to help out”.
Paddy finished by thanking both the event organisers and the sponsors of the event “This wouldn’t have been possible without Brian and the rest of the RaboDirect Tour de Picnic guys. Its one thing to have a goal to take part in an event, but it’s a great boost to have such a great team behind you helping in every way they can”.
To donate and help Paddy reach his goal, all you have to do is click on the link below. Every penny counts for these 3 great charities.
http://give2go.ie/profile/54894