James McIntyre and Niall Clancy aboard the Bundoran Lifeboat.
TWO men are in training to complete the first RNLI Station to Station challenge on Saturday, April 6, travelling from Bundoran Lifeboat Station to Arranmore Island Lifeboat Station in 10 hours – by foot, bicycle and kayak.
Leaving Bundoran Lifeboat Station at 6am on Saturday April 6th, Niall Clancy and James McIntyre will take two different routes and two different means to complete their challenge.
Niall is set to run the entire distance of 100km door to door, including using a treadmill on the final leg from Burtonport Ferry Port via ferry to Arranmore Island whilst James will cycle to Barnesmore Gap, run across the Blue Stacks down to Glenties, cycle to Portnoo and then kayak the remainder of the journey to Arranmore Island.
Niall, a HSE advance paramedic, has already completed 3 marathons including Belfast and Dublin and also a half iron man in Galway. He decided to do the challenge following a conversation with the Arranmore Lifeboat Crew during a recent visit.
He said: “The RNLI are a fantastic charity and as they are completely voluntary I wanted to do my bit to help raise funds for both Bundoran and Arranmore so, with James, we’re aiming to do that on April 6.”
Initially the plan had been to run 36 miles but when the idea was put to him to run from Bundoran to Arranmore which is a further 26 miles (a marathon distance), Niall thought it was a great idea ‘running 100km is something different and definitely a challenge – I definitely believe we can do it’.
Meanwhile, James is no stranger to such challenges having completed the “Coast to Coast” for Parkinsons last year again using the combination of mountain running, cycling and kayaking to traverse Northern Ireland and end up at Creevy Pier.
James is always looking for the next idea to top his last one and is always happy to do it for charity.
On the day the two boys and their entourages will have support from the Bundoran and Arranmore Lifeboat Crews as well as runners, cyclists and members of the Tir Chonaill Athletic Club. Donations can be made in advance via rnlistationtostationchallenge.wordpress.com.
The boys’ progress on the day can be followed on the Bundoran Lifeboat Facebook and Twitter (@atlantic85) feeds and also on the website.
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