A six-strong team of young Armagh athletes have completed the Belfast Marathon in fantastic fashion to raise money for the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital.
And they did so to give back for the care and support shown to their Armagh Athletic Club clubmate Lisa McKeever, who was seriously injured after being struck by a vehicle on the Monaghan Road during an early morning run last year.
The six – Chloe Vernon, Owen Acheson, Jack Duggan, Ava Powell, Aoibhe Delaney and Meabh O’Neill – took it upon themselves to complete the Marathon as a relay team because they wanted to do something for an extremely worthwhile cause.
Aoibhe Delaney and Ava Powell.
And they could think of nothing better than the Royal Intensive Care unit, something very close to their hearts.
All of the young runners – aged 16 and 17 – are Junior members of Armagh Athletic Club.
Aoibhe’s mum, Evanna, meanwhile, is the Junior Co-ordinator and was delighted to see them line-up on Sunday to take part.
Jack Duggan.
“The juniors decided to compete to raise money for the Royal Intensive Care unit on behalf of Lisa, a senior club member and a good friend of mine, who was critically injured in November when she was out running,” she explained. “I would have run with Lisa fairly regularly prior to her being injured.
“They were keen to do something. They were all very affected. I suppose the whole of Armagh was affected when Lisa got injured and certainly the running community were all very upset and they wanted to do something.
Jack Duggan and Ava Powell.
“The Royal Intensive Care Unit did a fantastic job of caring for Lisa. She almost died, but thankfully she’s continuing on her recovery at the moment. She’s improving all the time and continuing to recover really well and she knew that the Juniors were doing the relay on her behalf.”
As a relay entry, the super six completed the 26.2 miles course in three hours and 20 minutes.
And that placed them in 51st place out of well in excess of 3,000 teams.
It truly was a sensational result for the Armagh contingent, who were prepared to push themselves beyond their comfort zones to support their fundraising efforts.
Owen Acheson, with his mum Ruth. Both ran leg two.
“All of them would regularly compete in races, but they would all tend to be shorter distances,” explained Evanna. “They would be cross-country, track races, some road races. They would rarely compete in a race where they have to run for such a distance.
“In the relay, the longest leg is about 12 kilometres, so that was manageable for them. One of the girls on the team is a sprinter, so doing a leg of the relay is a lot longer than her usual distance. They’re out training, most of them a good five times a week at least. So they were all in good shape for doing it.
“The relay has five legs and they’re all different distances. The shortest one is 4.2 miles and the longest one is about seven miles or slightly longer, so they divided that up between them.
Chloe Vernon.
“There’s only five legs but there’s six of them ended up running it. Three of them are sprinters and one of those three, Meabh, has been out of running for the last year, because she’s been quite unwell with ME. But she’s starting to recover and really wanted to run a little bit of the final leg, so she joined in with my daughter for the final 500 metres.
“That’s probably the first time she’s run in nearly a year and they crossed the finish line together, which was really, really sweet.”
Evanna, meanwhile, was running with the Armagh Athletic Club’s senior relay team on Sunday, competing the first leg and then cheering on all of the other local athletes taking part.
And she is justifiably proud beyond words of the young people’s achievement.
“I’m delighted that they did it,” said Evanna. “It was a lovely thing for them to do as a team and a lovely occasion for them to get out and run and see the support – and knowing that they were doing it for such a good cause was great as well.
“It’s been so tough for Lisa, for her family and for the whole running community around Armagh, even around the North. I think even Mary Peters enquired about her at one stage. It’s shocking whenever somebody gets injured when they’re just out for their morning run.”
Having been tended to “brilliantly in the ICU”, the plan was to raise money to ensure others who are critically injured or ill can also receive that same excellent standard of care.
When the Armagh Juniors launched their fundraising efforts, a target was set of £1,000. And, now standing at over £1,500, it is a goal which they have already smashed – and then some!
“We’re delighted and I think there’s a bit more money to come in as well,” added Evanna. “We were given lots of cash donations as well, so we’re going to add that into the final amount. We really are delighted.”
Anyone who would like to donate can still do so here.
