Terry to set off on mammoth marathon challenge

Local service station proprietor, Terry Hughes, sets off this morning on a mission to raise thousands of Euros for the Jack & Jill Children's Foundation.

"These ideas tend to start with: I was in a pub, basically," Terry says as he begins to explain just how this mightily worthy challenge came about.

Terry, who runs TJ Hughes Service Station on the Belleek-Ballyshannon border, is to complete a marathon a day - for the next 5 days - concluding his challenge with the Dublin Marathon on Sunday.

He'll be making his way from Omagh to Dublin, via Florencecourt, Cavan, Kells and Dunboyne.

It's all in a bid to raise €10,000 for the Jack & Jill Children's Foundation, he'd already raised close to €9,000 before the start of this morning's challenge.

When asked about the charity, Terry says it's something very "special" to him.

"I was lucky enough to learn more about the charity at a conference and it really struck a chord with me," Terry explains.

"That there’s no state support available for children born with severe development issues - my own child has diabetes - and in comparison, we have all the support in the world - so I felt it was important to do my bit,” he added.

The Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation provides much needed nursing care & direct funding to families of children from birth to 4 years old with severe neurological development issues throughout Ireland, enabling them to take a break from the daily marathon of caring their sick child. 

The service which is nationwide, with no waiting list and operates 365 days a year, delivered by a network of over 1,000 nurses also includes end of life care. 

When thoughts switch to the road to Dublin, Terry's aware of the "huge physical challenge" that awaits him - but he says he's glad he'll be helped along the way.

"Running the 5 marathons in 5 days is also a huge physical challenge for me - I’ll certainly not have too many opportunities to do something like this in the future," he said.

"But I’m delighted that I’ll have some local runners accompanying me on stretches along the route, and I’ll have volunteers to cycle a rickshaw to carry all the essentials along the way," he continued.

He sets off from TJ Hughes Service Station from 10AM this morning.

And if you'd like to make a donation, please visit Terry’s Everyday Hero fundraising page at https://give.everydayhero.com/ie/5-marathons-5-days-136-2-miles

Or, indeed you can make a donation in store.

LISTEN: Terry Hughes fills in Q Radio's Stevie King on the mammoth marathon challenge he's about to undertake.