Hear me out.
It’s not for me.
I’m fine.
Really.
This particular appeal is to support 2 borderline crazy friends of mine. Seamus Crossan & Stephen Quigley. Seamus & Stevie are 2 peas in a pod. They are friends from when they were kids. I’ve known them for about 4 years now, more or less. They live in the small town I love so well, a city called Derry, in the country of Northern Ireland. Seamus & Stephen, as far as I can make out, are instigators. They come up with these crazy ideas and then encourage each other to follow through on whatever outrageous scheme they have concocted. They also try to get others involved as co-conspirators. I am currently trying to come up with a good reason to not go run 4 half-marathons in 4 days with them next August….
…but I digress…
…The other thing about their, umm, activities is that they almost always involve doing good for others or their community. Their regular jobs both involve supporting societal wellness in their own way, but they also come up with these after-hours, extra-credit things to lend a hand, or raise a buck.
Their latest project?
Seamus & Stephen are running a half-marathon a day, every day, for the month of September.
30 days / 30 half marathons.
Yeah, I know. I told them it was nuts. I’m sure their wives have at least thought as much. But if their wives can’t convince them, what good would my words do. So if you can’t beat’em….
…support’em.
That’s me, shooting a selfie with Seamus, Stevie & some other supporters on day 3 of the challenge, a rainy Saturday where we did laps of a small square. I’d tell you I did all 13.1 miles, but that would be a lie. I did run the whole thing on 1 of the 5 days I was there, but that was the Waterside half marathon, the event I travelled over to Derry to run, so it almost doesn’t count.
OK, enough waxing poetic about what cool dudes these guys are. They are, but that’s enough of the waxing. What are they supporting with the “30 X 30” challenge?
The 2 charities are the Foyle Search and Rescue and the Danny Quigley Fund
through Bogside and Brandywell Health forum.
Foyle Search and Rescue are volunteers from the local community who selflessly
give up hours of their personal time every week patrolling the river on Thursday,
Friday & Saturday nights, engaging with people in distress, maintaining lifebelts and
saving lives.
The Danny Quigley Fund provides much-needed one to one counselling services for
individuals in the North West as a means to improve their mental health and well-being. It is
supported by Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum who provide a holistic
approach to empower, educate and support local communities and their
residents to improve their physical and mental health and well-being, allowing
them to realise their true potential.
In my own less formal but hopefully somewhat accurate words, Derry and the surrounding communities are often under-supported & under-funded when it comes to social programs to help community members in need. It could be at-risk youth or folks suffering from depression, other mental illness or abuse of alcohol / drugs. These two groups are in the fore-front of the work of helping people help themselves. So that’s why Seamus & Stephen are running 13.1 a day, every day, for the month of September.
How can you help?
Send a buck or two.
How?
Glad you asked. There’s a Facebook page, “30in30” which will take you to the fundraising page.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084208313389
Also, you can go straight to the fundraising page, which is Justgiving.com
Honestly, I did it from here in Cincinnati before I left for my trip to Ireland to visit them. It was easy. I mean, I pulled it off, so how hard could it be. It was fun. I learned about the exchange rate from U.S. dollars to British pounds, so it’s educational too.
Now, if you’s like a piece of cool Derry city swag while supporting the boys, consider buying this Derry “MUCKERS” t-shirt from the super-cool folks at Pure Derry, purveyors of all things Derry-related.
It comes in black or white, is tres comfortable ( I wore it all the way back from Derry to Cincinnati, 23 hours). And people will ask, like the flight attendant…”Mucker”? It gave me an in to explain to her that a mucker is a friend, a buddy, a mate, in Derry. ( note to Seamus & Stephen. If it actually means something else and you’re having me on, it’s your ass…)
Their website… (btw, they do really good video blogs on facebook, and they have a bunch of other cool, stuff look’em up!)
OK, that’s my pitch. Support two guys doing something crazy for a great cause. Do it for satisfaction. Do it for a t-shirt.
Oh, one other point, they are also the 2 dudes who will bring the beer for the post run party.
So there’s that.
Talk Later,
Bob
practicallywell.net 