A Crossmaglen man ran from ‘Glen to Glen’ last Sunday, as he completed a colossal distance of over 120kms to raise money and awareness for a cause close to his heart.
Father-of-four and former Crossmaglen Rangers senior player, Jamie McEvoy originally hails from the South Armagh village of Crossmaglen, but moved towards the North Coast to start a family with his partner, Caoimhe.
Their eldest son – now six years old – is autistic and, with several other young family members also living life on the spectrum, Jamie knew he wanted to do something to give recognition to a charity that continues to do so much to make all of their lives that little bit easier.
To raise vital funds and awareness for Autism NI, Jamie committed to running the distance from his new hometown in Glenravel, Co Antrim to his old hometown of Crossmaglen, Co Armagh… the equivalent of three marathons back-to-back in a single day.
On Sunday morning, after returning from a week-long family holiday, Jamie dove head-first into the challenge which, he says, went off without a hitch despite “not really doing a lot of training!”
Speaking to Armagh I, Jamie said: “I expected it to take in and around 20 hours but I actually did it in 14 and a half hours which defied everything I’d read online. I was delighted. It just went perfectly, honestly I couldn’t have hoped for better.”
As many long distance runners will know, everyone will eventually hit their wall and once that wall creeps up… the challenge becomes mental rather than physical.
For Jamie, the wall hit at the 77kms mark. But – almost as if they knew – his wife and youngest child appeared just when he was ready to give up. He took his lunch break with them in Lurgan and his vigour was renewed for the final stretch.
The support from friends and family all along the trek ensured he kept putting one foot in front of the other. His brother also attended to run 10kms by his side.
But, he said the ultimate driving force was having that acute understanding of knowing what life can be like for someone living with autism.
“I just kept thinking of my son and thinking of his challenges. Going away on holidays, for example… the travel, the temperatures and all of that and how it can affect him. I just kept thinking, if he can do it and do all of those things, I can keep going,” said Jamie.
The young dad could not speak highly enough of Autism NI, a charity which he said “goes much amazing work for kids and parents of kids with autism”.
To coincide with his ultramarathon, Jamie launched a JustGiving page to help collate funds for the charity.
With his run now complete, Jamie has raised over £1,700 for the charity and hopes to give it “one last final push” before making an official handover of the funds.
He said: “All small donations will be welcome and help this charity to continue with their amazing work!”
Click here to make a donation to Jamie’s Glen to Glen fundraiser for Autism NI.
