Marathon man Brian raises £2k for good cause

Brian Crothers, from Glenkyle Park, completed the Mourne Way Marathon - a gruelling 26-mile run across the Mourne Mountains in Co Down - on Saturday, June 6.

Thanks to generous sponsorship from family and friends, the 63-year-old was recently able to hand over a cheque for £2,068 to the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund.

Brian, who is originally from north Belfast, decided to take on the challenge in memory his father Wesley Crothers, father-in-law Joseph Gillespie and brother-in-law Desi Allen.

“My father, father-in-law and brother-in-law have all died from pancreatic cancer. My father died 30 years ago, but after my brother-in-law passed away last June I decided I wanted to raise money for pancreatic cancer research,” he explained.

Reflecting on his Mourne Way fundraising challenge, Brian continued: “I have done several marathons and half marathons, and I’ve run four half marathons for the Children’s Hospice, so I like to keep myself quite fit, but the Mourne run was very different to an ordinary marathon.

“It was 26 miles - the same distance as an ordinary marathon - but it was cross-country from Slieve Donard Park in Newcastle to Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor, so it was a bit more muddy than a normal marathon.”

He added: “It took me five hours and 35 minutes. The hills weren’t the problem as I’d done a lot of training around the Cave Hill, but there had been a lot of rain in the days before the event and some parts of the course were like a swamp. It was really hard to get through the mud in some places.”

Brian, who works at Samuel Kirk Builders Merchant in Glengormley, thanked his family, friends and customers for their generous donations to his fundraising effort.