Sister’s illness triggers marathon-a-week man’s incredible feat
Aiden Sheridan was really shaken when his sister, Jennifer, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
The Ballinasloe man is the youngest of Tommy and Eilish Sheridan’s eight children but because just a year separates them, Aiden is quite close to Jennifer. The 38-year-old, who is a carpet fitter with Tom Dempsey’s in Oranmore, found talking about his sister’s cancer diagnosis difficult. And so, he ran.
He didn’t run away, as such, but instead he ran 59 marathons over the course of one year, to show how much he cared for his sister, who runs Tiny Tots Crèche in the East Galway town.
“I planned on doing 52 marathons in 52 weeks but I ended up doing 59,” recalls Aiden of his feat.
Though he was a late-comer to running – Aiden only started in 2012 – he had completed about 40 marathons before setting out on his unusual 52-week task.
The Birchgrove athlete’s first marathon was completed on January 2, 2016; and he finished his 52nd on November 7 in his home town, which began and finished at Gullane’s Hotel in the town, and included several loops of Poolboy.
“I wanted to finish in Ballinasloe and so that was my 52nd but I had booked more runs so I just completed them and actually ran 59 in all,” he says.
Funnily enough, after the 59th marathon, he felt less fit than before because he didn’t train during the weeks.
“I was so unfit at the end of it – it was unbelievable. Your core strength is gone. Your endurance would be fine but your strength is gone and your ability to do sprints is gone,” he says.
There was method in his madness: throughout his yearlong journey, Aiden raised some €18,400 for Breast Cancer Ireland, the charity established to raise funding to support pioneering research and awareness programmes across the country.
See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.