‘The vast majority of Leitrim people live and breathe football’: Leitrim stars talk importance of 50-Mile challenge

The 2026 Leitrim 50-mile challenge returned this week with an event in the Carrick Business Campus on Wednesday night.

 The fundraising challenge, in support of Leitrim GAA and LGFA, asks people to face the cold this new year and Run, walk or Cycle 50 miles in the month of January to raise money to support Leitrim’s inter-county player panels, which are shared equally between the men’s and women’s games.

An evening of Quid Games was held last year instead of the 50-mile challenge, but despite the break, it has raised over €500,000 in funds since its inception in 2021, according to Leitrim GAA.

Leitrim senior ladies’ footballer Rachel McIntrye and Leitrim senior men’s footballer Barry McNulty are amongst the local ambassadors who are supporting the event.

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As a senior footballer, McNulty says he can feel the support there is for the team in the county, wherever he goes, whether out on the field or just visiting the local shop in his native Manorhamilton.

“The vast majority of Leitrim people live and breathe football, which is why I think the 50-mile challenge is such a success,” he says.

The approach of modern Gaelic football is essentially professional, and Leitrim is not an exception to that, but it takes money to maintain that standard of training.

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“As long as I have been there, I am going into my fourth year now, there has always been such a professional approach from strength and conditioning, tackling work, video work, then you have your physios, nutrition, all that stuff, and psychology has been involved at different stages too,” says McNulty.

“We know how much people have to work, we appreciate that people are supporting us to try and help us get better.”

A lot has gone into the development of the ladies’ game nationally in recent years, and the work that has gone into Leitrim has had positive results, with the ladies winning the All-Ireland Intermediate title in 2024 and bringing the structures to develop the game in the county in recent years.

“There is a real buzz around ladies’ football in Leitrim,” says Leitrim wing-back Rachel McIntrye. Rachel remembers the community spirit when the ladies won the All-Ireland and has since joined the panel, adding that the panel has a professional feel to it.

“We could have more or the same as what some men’s teams have. That's really rare, especially in a small county.

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“It's not just us who benefit from it, it's all the younger teens coming up and having them get proper management and hoping that they get more of a professional set-up, which then in turn will hopefully produce players for the future.”

“They're trying to make sure we have the same set-up as Galway ladies might have, or Dublin ladies.”

Despite a heavy training load, McIntrye says she will be taking up the challenge this January. It isn’t the first time that she has done so, and her advice is to make it a time to see people.

“I'm in college, and the girls love getting out walking. So, you can kind of pull them along with you. And when you come home at the weekend, Mum loves going for a walk and a talk. So, you kind of do. You build up the miles.”

Those who wish to register can do so online on their IDonate page, and participants will be invited to join the official Facebook Group and Strava Club, fostering an online community of Leitrim enthusiasts.

A new initiative this year will spotlight the county’s scenic areas, with walkers and runners encouraged to share photos, and each week a dedicated panel will select the most captivating submissions, with prizes on offer.

The 50-mile challenge is also supported by a range of ambassadors from different areas of Leitrim, including Martha Gilheaney, a Ballinamore native who returned from Dublin and has built a large online following documenting her farmhouse renovation and rural lifestyle; Dara Mazina, who relocated from Ukraine, highlights Leitrim’s welcoming community and her volunteer work with Carrick Tidy Towns.

It also includes Alison Moffatt, businessperson with family roots in Leitrim, who co-founded Drumhierney Woodland Hideaway, an award-winning eco-tourism business; as well as Robbie Cunningham, Dromahair native, who is the lead vocalist of Amble, an Irish folk trio now touring with Hozier.