The Challenge...32 Marathons, 32 Counties, 32 Days
Gerry and Ken's Blog...

Some photos, comments and updates from each day's marathon are up on our Facebook page! Check it out here...

Day 0 ... T minus 1 day!

Gerry Duffy;

Our tapering period is now almost complete. The last two weeks has seen us drop our running down massively in order to rest our bodies and prepare us for the days ahead. The last few days have been about mentally getting ready for the off which is now just 36 hours away. We have run the miles in training and have hit all the targets which we set ourselves at the beginning. Now the mental side of things must take over as we really feel this will play a huge part over the coming weeks.

Nerves, sure, they are here now but once we transmit that into positive energy we will start in a great frame of mind.

Till Friday at 10am!!

Ken Whitelaw;

Thursday 1st July, 6:15am and I'm writing this as I wait for the porridge to cook. An early start today as Gerry and I are heading in to NewsTalk to do a quick interview. It's funny; 3 months ago I would have been shaking in my boots at the thought of speaking live on air but now, today, I'm not even slightly 'phased' (well, maybe a little! :) )

The day is almost upon us. After 18 months of thinking about it, 12 months of planning and c. 6 months of intense training we are finally about to start the challenge of a lifetime - to complete 32 marathons in 32 days.

There's a whole mix of feelings bubbling up; excitement, nerves, apprehension, but really, I can't wait to get started.

With about 700 people already signed up we feel that the event is going to be a great success, regardless if whether Gerry or I can accomplish our own goal. The big winners in all of this, of course, are the charities; IAA, ANI and ICS. Over the last weeks and months we have been bowled over and truly humbled at the enormous generosity of people in terms of their time, fund-raising efforts, help and advice. Even on top of the 700 runners, joggers and walkers there has been a brilliant team of helpers all around the country helping us to pull the event together - to everyone, we are hugely thankful and we look forward to meeting you all along the way.

Until tomorrow, Ken.

Eve of Challenge - Thursday evening

Thursday was a mental day.

GD: I had in my organised wisdom planned a relaxing day for Thursday as I wanted to switch off and prepare myself mentally for the challenge that awaits us. However two media calls arrived late Wednesday. The first of them was from NEWSTALK asking Ken and I to be in Dublin for a 07:30 live interview with Claire Byrne and Ivan Yates. Rising a little after 5am meant it would be a long day ahead. The interview went great and finished off with a humorous comment from Ivan saying he would monitor our progress by reading the obituary pages for the duration of the challenge.

The 2nd call was from RTE who ended up doing some filming for the RTE news which ended up getting us coverage on the Friday Six One news bulletin. The exposure should help our cause to raise funds for the charities enormously. We arrived into Longford a little after 6pm on the eve of the race. Over the next few hours the rest of the crew checked in and we all hit the sack around 11pm.

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