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Brian’s taking on toughest foot race on Earth

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By Michelle Crean

With searing temperatures of up to 50 degrees in the Sahara Desert - local fitness expert Brian Foley is planning to take on what is regarded as the toughest foot race on Earth.

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Brian, who runs Activate Fitness on the Ballycasheen Road, is currently putting in hours of gruelling training every week for the six day 251km Marathon Des Sables event.

He's heading off on April 20, starting the ultra marathon the next day.

This multi-day race is held every year in southern Morocco with the longest single stage 91km.

"It’s roughly six marathons in six days in the desert, around 50° heat at the height of the day and around 5° at night," Brian, who writes a regular fitness column for the Killarney Advertiser, said.

The race is self supported, so he'll be carrying everything except water which is supplied.

"It's a big undertaking. I plan to have around 10kg weight on my back."

Brian set up 'Marathons for the Mind' as he wanted to help raise awareness of mental health issues and to raise funds for the vital services that some amazing mental health charities provide. So far he has raised just under €2,000 of his €5,000 target.

"The whole idea came about eight years ago when I was chatting to a girl in Australia. I did an ultramarathon on the Great Ocean Road. Then between lockdowns and having our first child last year it spurred me on a bit."

January 2022 was the beginning of the gruelling plan as Brian registered for the challenge.

"I threw my hat in the ring then but it's the last five to six months that the training ramped up. I'm doing nearly 200kms a week on The Kerry Way, Rossbeigh and Banna."

He also explained that he's building his time up to four to five hours a day in the sauna to help get his body ready for the temperature in the desert.

"This might be my last big adventure," Brian, who is due his second child this August with his wife Roisin, added.

They're holding a table quiz next Wednesday night in the Brehon at 7.30pm.

It’s €40 for a table of 4 with of plenty spot prizes on the night.

To follow Brian's journey go to Instagram: 'Marathons for the Mind'.

To make a donation go to GoFundMe: Mental Health Charities (Pieta & YSPI).

 

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Fassbender ready for second Le Mans appearance

Local Hollywood A-lister Michael Fassbender is in the final preparation stages for his second appearance at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. The iconic endurance race is celebrating its […]

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Local Hollywood A-lister Michael Fassbender is in the final preparation stages for his second appearance at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The iconic endurance race is celebrating its 100th edition next weekend.

The Fossa star has already arrived in the famous French twon where he is involved in a week-long series of engagements including drivers’ parades, autograph sessions and more serious appointments like car safety checks, practice and qualifying.

Like last year, when he finished 16th in the LMGTE Am class, Fassbender has been entered in to the event by the German Proton Competition team with Estonian Martin Rump and the Austrian Richard Lietz.

Fassbender dreams of following the trajectory of fellow Hollywood actors Patrick Dempsey who was second in LMGTE Am class in 2016 and Paul Newman who finished second overall in 1979.

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Ireland’s oldest citizen has Killarney connections

Ireland’s oldest woman met with President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin this week. Máirín Hughes, who turned 109 on May 22 has strong Killarney connections. The previous record […]

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Ireland’s oldest woman met with President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin this week.

Máirín Hughes, who turned 109 on May 22 has strong Killarney connections.

The previous record was held by 107-year-old Nancy Stewart who died on September 10 2021.

Although born in Belfast, Máirín went to school in the Mercy Convent. Her father was a customs and excise officer and the family moved around a lot eventually coming to Killarney after spells in County Down and Dublin.

Her mother came from the Rathmore area and her father was from Newmarket in County Cork.

She attended the Mercy Convent and has, in previous interviews, recalled growing up on the shores of Lough Lein.

“Neighbours who had three children were given the job of taking me to school,” she said. “They were annoyed because the children were going to school for two or three years but I was put in to the same class as them – my mother had taught me.”

In 2021 she featured in the book ‘Independence Memories: A People’s Portrait of the Early Days of the Irish Nation’, sharing stories of being kept in school in Killarney during an attack on the RIC barracks down the road.

In 1924 she started a degree in science and a diploma in education at University College Cork, before working in the pathology lab in University College Cork’s Department of Medicine for 16 years.

last year she recalled her story on the podcast: ‘Living History – Irish Life and Lore’.

During the broadcast she talked about her parents’ membership of the Gaelic League in 1910; the Spanish Flu in Ireland in 1918; The Black and Tans in Killarney in 1921; the early days of the new Free State; Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932, visiting the Basket Islands in 1929; and working in the UCC medical laboratory from 1932 until 1948.

This week President Michael D. Higgins hosted an afternoon tea event to celebrate the important role that a variety of people have and can play in different communities and Máirín was among the guests of honour.

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