When Trevor Casserly set about running seven marathons in seven months last year, in memory of a much-loved friend, he knew it wouldn’t be easy.

But after a gruelling year that tested him both mentally and physically, Trevor says presenting a cheque of over €40,000 to Galway Hospice, which he raised as part of the challenge, made it all worthwhile.

Trevor lost one of his best friends, Cathal Hynes, in August 2023. Cathal’s sudden death sent a shockwave through their tight-knit group of friends and, for Trevor, the grief was almost overwhelming.

But determined to honour the memory of Cathal – a former wingback on the Carnmore hurling team – Trevor, with the help of his own partner Ann Marie, and the support of Cathal’s family – launched ‘7 in 7 for the 7’.

That was last January and since then, he completed months of training before embarking on his first marathon in Westport last April, going on to run marathons in Limerick, Cork, Germany, Longford and Donegal.

The last of the seven was the Dublin Marathon in October and in recent days, Trevor was joined by some friends as he presented €40,556 to Galway Hospice – the charity nominated by Cathal’s family.

“If you’d asked me my goal at the start, I would have said if we could get €7,000, I’d have been delighted. To get over €40,000 is just amazing,” Trevor says.

“It went beyond any of my expectations. The level of support I had was huge, and I wouldn’t have been able to do any of it without the support of friends and family.”

Caption: Marathon man…Trevor Casserly.

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