Mark runs 24-hours straight in Corkagh Park
By Maurice Garvey
ANOTHER week another mammoth run completed by marathon man Mark Conlon.
Clondalkin man Conlon, who has taken part in an endless succession of ultra marathons and long distance races, won his latest task which - in one stage - saw him running for 24 hours straight in Corkagh Park.
Marathon man Mark Conlon ran 24 hours straight in Corkagh Park. Mark is pictured outside Ronald McDonald House
Every time he runs, he tries to raise a few bob for charity - this time around it was Ronald McDonald House.
“I’ve won back to back last man standing races now, this one was extreme with some top ultra runners, about 50 people at the start,” said Mark.
“It’s all timed and recorded digitally.
“We ran everything from marathons to half marathons, 12 hour races covering 75k.
“On Saturday, it was day 90, and I was down to the last four. We had to do 7k every hour on the hour until there was one left. After 24 hours doing 104 miles I won. Franck McCormick was only 7k short of me.”
Receiving an award from Gary Reinhardt, race director East of Ireland Marathons
The East of Ireland Marathon Series events are tough but Mark says “if you want to win, there is mental torment”.
“The frost nearly killed me during the night on the last day. Karen Shine let me stay in her house for pitstops. I’d charge the phone, sleep on the floor for two minutes, got pizza slices on the way back out, everything had to be carried.”
There was more good news for Mark, when a previous charity challenge he was involved in to help Freya Doyle (9), a young Donaghmede girl with a debilitating rare form of epilepsy, finally reached it’s €40k target.
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