From 5K to the Dublin Marathon: Leitrim man takes on a challenge for LA519

If someone had told me at the start of this year that I would be preparing to run the Dublin Marathon, I probably would have laughed at them.

I’m 37 years old, live in Ballinamore, County Leitrim, and wasn’t a runner. I had never imagined myself running 42.2 kilometres, never mind doing it as part of a fundraising effort for mental health charity LA519.

But life can take you in a direction you never expected.

The last year has been a difficult one for me. I went through a period where my mental health deteriorated badly and I found myself struggling in ways I never thought I would.

Eventually, I realised that I couldn’t keep trying to deal with everything on my own.

Counselling became an important part of getting myself back on my feet. It gave me the opportunity to talk, to understand some of the things I was carrying and, most importantly, to start believing that things could actually get better.

Then I discovered running.

I started running in April this year, initially without any great expectations. But I had already made a decision that would change the direction of my year: I signed up to run the Dublin Marathon.

At that time, I had only run 5K distances.

My goal was to work my way through the distances and prove to myself that I could do it. I wanted to run a 5K, a 10K and a half marathon before eventually taking on the full marathon.

I can proudly say I’ve achieved every one of those goals.

I ran my first 5K, then progressed to a 10K and eventually completed a half marathon. Each distance gave me another reason to believe that the marathon I had signed up for really was possible.

Suddenly, something that had seemed completely impossible only months earlier didn’t seem quite so impossible anymore.

That’s when the idea of running the Dublin Marathon began to become real.

Training for a marathon is challenging. There have been good days and bad days, rain, tired legs, injuries and plenty of moments where I’ve wondered what exactly I’ve signed myself up for.

But there have also been moments that I never thought I’d experience.

I’m now regularly running distances that I couldn’t have imagined when I first put on a pair of running shoes. I’ve already completed a 23K training run, and the distances will continue to increase before I eventually stand on the start line in Dublin.

For me, though, this isn’t just about running.

I wanted the marathon to have a purpose beyond simply getting from the start line to the finish line, so I decided to raise money for LA519, a mental health charity that supports people who are struggling with their mental health.

The response has genuinely blown me away.

Friends, family and people in the communities of Ballinamore and Carrigallen have donated and supported my various fundraising efforts.

I’ve also had people reach out to me to tell me that my story has inspired them or encouraged them in their own lives. Some people have even opened up to me about their own experiences with mental health, and I’ve had the privilege of listening to their stories as well as sharing my own.

What started with a fundraising target has grown into something that means an enormous amount to me.

I’ve now raised well over €1,000, and I’m hoping to continue increasing that total between now and marathon day.

LA519 is a relatively small charity, and knowing that the money I’m raising can help support the work they do makes every kilometre feel that little bit more meaningful.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned through this whole experience is that progress doesn’t have to happen all at once.

It can be getting out the door. It can be running another kilometre when you don’t think you can. It can be admitting that you need help. And it can be looking back at where you were and realising just how far you’ve come.

I don’t see myself as an elite athlete or someone who has suddenly become a serious runner. I’m just an ordinary person who lives in Ballinamore and decided to give running a chance, and six months later I’m preparing to run a marathon.

That’s something I’m incredibly proud of.

I also hope that my story might encourage somebody else who is struggling with their own mental health.

You don’t have to have everything figured out. You don’t have to transform your life overnight. Take the next step. Talk to somebody. Ask for help. Find something that gives you a reason to get up and keep moving.

For me, that happened to be running.

On October 25th, I’ll stand on the start line of the Dublin Marathon knowing that there are 42.2 kilometres between me and the finish.

I’m sure there will be difficult moments. I’m sure I’ll question my life choices somewhere after kilometre 34.

But I’ll also know exactly why I’m there.

I’m running for LA519. I’m running for mental health. I’m running for everyone who has ever felt that things couldn’t get better.

And most of all, I’m running to celebrate how far I’ve come.

Six months ago I was someone who had never run a marathon.

Now I’m training for one.

And I can’t wait to see what happens when I reach that finish line.