Meet the Wexford father undertaking a marathon fundraiser inspired by his daughter's 21st birthday
"When Jennie was born, myself and my wife wouldn't have known much about Trisomy 21,' Andrew concedes. 'She had major heart surgery when she was just four months old and we didn't get her home from the hospital until she was eight months.
"She has thrived since then though and she's still very healthy. She still sees a heart specialist for a check up every couple of years, but she's very active and she's been involved with Wexford Special Olympics club since she was 9, taking part in all kinds of competitions.'
Clearly very proud of his girl, she has inspired Andrew to attempt three massive challenges in the coming months.
This Saturday, on June 21, he will complete a 21 hour challenge at Rosslare Strand – swimming 2.1 miles, cycling 210 miles and running 21 miles. On September 21, he will attempt to complete Ironman Wales. The race is in the top 10 hardest Ironman races in the world with over 8,700ft of elevation during a 3.8km swim, 180km bike race and 42km run.
Finally on October 26, he will attempt to complete the Dublin City Marathon in 3 hours and 47 minutes – the three representing the 3rd copy of chromosome 21 a child with Down syndrome is born with and the 47 representing the number of chromosomes in the body of a person with Downy syndrome.
Currently racking up 20 hours a week, Andrew never loses sight of why he's doing it as Jennie is at his side all the way.
"She's super excited,' the Tagoat father says. 'She'll come out with me on the bike sometimes when I'm out for a run and she helps me with the updates on Facebook and that type of thing. She can't wait for June 21st for things to get started.'
While Andrew is working up a sweat, a day of family fun will take place in Rosslare Strand with a marquee set up on the green. People are invited to come out and cheer him on, enjoy a barbecue, buy a raffle ticket, enjoy the kids entertainment and maybe even join him for a mile or two of a run.
"I would've done a good few big races before Covid, but not much since,' Andrew says with excitement setting in.
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"I came up with this idea about two years ago. Jennie's 21st was approaching and I wanted to do something big.'
"I started training for this back in January and I'm 21 or 22 weeks in now. My attitude is to focus on the first challenge first and then build up slowly but surely. I did a little trial run of 16 hours last week, starting off in the sea at 3.30 a.m. It gave me a good idea of what it will be like.'
With a significant target of €210,000, Andrew is hoping that people will really row in behind him and help him make a lasting difference to Wexford Special Olympics Club and Windmill Therapeutic, who provide day supports for adults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities.
"Jennie loves the community aspect of the Special Olympics Club,' Andrew explains. 'Just to be able to get involved, it means the world to her. It's a fantastic club and really opens doors for kids like Jennie and creates a sense of community and belonging for them. She has some great friends through the club.
"As for Windmill, that's where she'll spend the next twenty, thirty, forty years of her life. They provide an amazing services and teach their clients life skills like how to budget and mind their money, how to get jobs and basically how to fend for themselves and enjoy some independence.
"I know they are struggling for money. They are planning a huge renovation to create sensory rooms etc down there and they're trying to raise €300,000. I'm hoping that I'll be able to help them out with that.
Andrew's fundraiser has already raised nearly €20,000 online alone and he's hopeful that people will turn out and join in the fun at Rosslare Strand on Saturday.
To support Andrew and Jennie's fundraiser efforts, you can search for 3 for 21 – Trisomy 21 Fundraiser Challenge on iDonate. All donations are greatly appreciated.
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Irish Daily Mirror
21 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Irishman told he'd never cycle again after spine injury takes on 640km challenge
Eight years after a life-changing spinal injury, Conor O'Dea is proving what's possible one kilometre at a time as he embarks on a massive cycle - all in the name of charity. When Limerick man Conor was seriously injured in a cycling accident in 2017, he never imagined he'd one day return to one of Ireland's toughest charity bike events. But this August, alongside his carer Paula and a custom-built trike, he's doing precisely that, taking on the Tour de Munster Challenge to raise funds for Down Syndrome Ireland. 'They told me I wouldn't cycle again, but that was never going to be the end of the story,' says Conor. 'Life didn't end. It just changed.' Now in its 25th year, the Tour de Munster is a four-day, 640km charity cycle through all six counties of Munster. Conor has taken part both before and after his injury and says the event holds deep personal meaning. 'After the accident, getting back on the road with a trike and feeling the wind in my face, it was nearly emotional,' he recalls. 'Tour de Munster was always a goal for me. The camaraderie, the people, the welcome in every town, it's a family.' Since his injury, Conor has raised close to €200,000 for charities including Spinal Injuries Ireland, Millimetre 2 Mountains, Challenged Athletes Foundation, Greenmount Cycling Academy, Down Syndrome Limerick and the Tour de Munster Charitable Foundation. Joining him on the Tour this year will be his Care team, headed by Paula O'Keeffe, Bluebird Care Limerick, who first met Conor at the National Rehabilitation Hospital. 'He was lying in a hospital bed, saying, 'I'm going to get out of this bed. I'm going to walk.' And I just thought, okay, let's try,' she says. Paula hadn't cycled a bike in 15 years, but after meeting Conor, she signed up for her first triathlon. 'He even inspired me to do that,' she laughs. 'We push each other on. I get just as much out of it as he does.' Young Charie Tuffy with Limerick man Conor O'Dea and his custom-built trike at City Hall, Limerick ahead of the 2025 Tour de Munster, supported by Bluebird Care in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland. They are pictured with Ellen Tuffy, Down Syndrome Limerick, Mark McInerney , Bluebird Care Ireland and Paula O'Keefe. (Image: Eamon Ward) Conor says their teamwork is what makes this year's Tour so meaningful. 'We've trained together, laughed through the tough days, and now we'll ride together. That means a lot.' Ellen Tuffy, committee member at Down Syndrome Limerick, said, 'Conor is a beacon of hope and determination. 'His achievements, both physical and mental, are truly extraordinary. He embodies the powerful message that disability does not equate to inability, a belief we hold strongly at Down Syndrome Limerick. 'Conor's journey continues to inspire our members with Down syndrome, showing them that they, too, can challenge and overcome the stereotypes often imposed by society. The unwavering support from Paula and the Bluebird team throughout his journey has been equally uplifting, demonstrating the profound impact that genuine care and belief can have on someone's potential'. Young Charie Tuffy with Limerick man Conor O'Dea and his custom-built trike at City Hall, Limerick ahead of the 2025 Tour de Munster, supported by Bluebird Care in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland. They are pictured with Ellen Tuffy, Down Syndrome Limerick and Paula O'Keefe. (Image: Eamon Ward) The team is supported by Bluebird Care, who provide nurse-led, premium homecare services across Ireland. Conor credits their help and Paula's unwavering support with enabling his continued recovery and independence. 'From the very first time Paula came to see me at the NRH, Bluebird Care have been exceptional,' he says. 'And any time I get a wild idea like Cambodia or another Tour, Paula's the first person I call.' Bluebird Care is also donating towards Conor's Tour de Munster ride, with all funds redirected to Down Syndrome Ireland's six Munster branches. At Bluebird Care, we believe in ability, resilience, and the power of human connection and Conor and Paula represent all of that and more. Their journey is a shining example of what's possible when compassion meets determination. We are proud to stand behind them as they take on the Tour de Munster, and we encourage everyone to support their remarkable efforts in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland' Mark McInerney, COO, Bluebird Care Ireland. The Tour de Munster takes place from August 7 to 10, with over 120 cyclists participating in support of families and individuals with Down syndrome across the province. Conor's fundraising page for this year's Tour de Munster can be found here. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
The Journal
2 days ago
- The Journal
Running men: The secrets of Donegal's superb conditioning
The 42 WHEN JIM MCGUINNESS accepted the Donegal senior manager job, he hadn't any time to lose. He hadn't anything sorted, simply because on the occasions he had gone for the job previously, he put the effort in and didn't get it. This time, he didn't need any effort, the board were calling him to say the job was his. When he was a student at University Ulster Jordanstown, he shared a classroom with the former Ulster Rugby player and now Down strength and conditioning coach, Jonny Davis. In coaching terms, he had put the reps in. He understood physiology. One week after the first team meeting, the panel reported to Dunfanaghy for training on a Saturday morning. McGuinness tells the story in his autobiography; 'That morning, we did a very simple fist-passing and kicking drill, but for one minute flat out. The whistle went after ten seconds. 'Where are we at? Where are we at?' 'Not one player said one hundred percent. So we went back at it and the ball was flying about and there were mistakes galore and they were cursing and getting frustrated and complaining that they couldn't control the ball at that speed. Mistakes were good. After sixty seconds they were doubled over, red-faced, sucking in air. 'That's good,' I told them. 'All we need to do now is replicate that for another seventy.' Then, he brought them for afters after an hour of football. They took off their boots and jogged the two kilometres to the beach. He announced they would be doing two sets of six sprints, that would last 400 metres. 'There were no complaints,' he would write. 'But you could see it in the looks they exchanged: This guy is off his fucking rocker.' By then, he had Letterkenny man Adam Speer as his Strength and Conditioning Coach. Speer is a gym owner in his home town and has competed in Triathlons, while he has also completed Iron Man events. When Donegal were playing games in Clones, Speer would head off from his home sometimes before first light, and make his way there by his road bike. In time, McGuinness would add other expertise to help his squad reach optimum fitness, such as Joe Gallanagh, formerly of Munster Rugby who was there for 2014. It's an element of Donegal that a great number of people seize on. Their aerobic capacity under McGuinness just appears to be on a different plane altogether. The All-Ireland semi-final mauling of Meath was a case in point. You sense the Royals slightly threw their cap at the season once Oisin Gallen's goal went in at the start of the second half. But sending on a series of athletes looking to put in the perfect audition for an All-Ireland final place made them look – on a day of a heatwave – in peak physical condition. When the Football Review Committee mentioned in public that they would be requesting the GPS data of county teams to make comparisons under the new rules introduced for 2025, they never had a chance of Donegal giving that information up. At the heart of all they do is a level of secrecy. Promises of anonymity didn't interest Donegal, and, why should they? What we do know is what people are prepared to share. Jim McGuinness. Cathal Noonan / INPHO Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO In 2011, after they had beaten Derry in the Ulster final, Kevin Cassidy said this about the sessions that followed, 'Jim's warmups are unbelievable. You feel like dying in the middle of them. We might have warmed up with the ball for half an hour. Then we go into our sprints, eighty-metre sprints, 100 metre sprints, shuttle runs, cones on twenty yards either side of you and you have to sprint there and back. 'You have four men in a line and if there is more than a second or two seconds difference between the four men, you go again. There is no slacking off, there is no way out. It's the hardest I've ever trained in my life.' Donegal would also adopt the latest gadgetry. When they went training, they wore GPS trackers. Nowadays, GPS chips are worn in vests or in pouches sewn on players' jerseys. They have been known to appear even in a club reserve championship fixture. But in 2011, they were revolutionary. None of that is to detract from the deeply held belief in Gaelic Games that hard training bonds a team and is the best shortcut to confidence. When McGuinness first came into the Donegal team for the 1992 season, they beat Fermanagh in the semi-final, but the players weren't happy with their fitness levels. In 'Sam's For The Hills', the definitive book on Donegal football up to the mid-90s, James McHugh noted that his brother Martin said he had no intention of turning up to disgrace himself in another Ulster final. Advertisement 'We trained like dogs for a month,' said Martin Shovlin. 'Horses wouldn't have done the training we did,' said Anthony Molloy. Trainings soon looked different. A 15-minute run would be a warm up. Four 800 metre runs, four 400 metre runs and six 200 metre runs would follow. Occasionally, Martin McHugh himself would take a session that was dreaded by the others. Even he had his limits though. 'We did so much running I was fucked and I cut inside a cone,' the Wee Man said in the same book. 'Barry Cunningham was coming after me. He told me it was my fault that we were doing this training and that I'd have to run around those cones the same as everybody else! We didn't see a football for weeks.' Martin McHugh. James Meehan / INPHO James Meehan / INPHO / INPHO The value of hard work was an early lesson for McGuinness, but none of it was without method. The thing is, that most strength and conditioning coaches all do similar courses of study. They intern at professional environments and soak up the lessons. There is a culture of information sharing and they migrate through various jobs with frequency. As a result, there are few avenues left unexplored in this area. Perhaps what makes Donegal a little different, and this has been referenced by Eamonn McGee recently, is McGuinness' ability to convince players that even though they feel they have nothing left to give, they have more in them. Nobody needs insider information for this. You only have to look at Karl Lacey, staggering around, out on his feet after Donegal's extra-time win over Kildare in the 2011. 'From 2014 to 2020 or 2018 when I stopped playing, there wasn't much change in the drilling, but it's the way Jim can speak,' says Darrach O'Connor, who played under McGuinness, Rory Gallagher and Declan Bonner. 'It's just different. It just removes nearly all doubt from your mind. 'I just think to myself, my own story, the injuries I had, I went from loving Gaelic, and then feeling like, 'Just get through the session and don't get hurt.' 'I know rightly, if Jim was involved with the management, he would have just eradicated that. He does it in a way that you don't know he's pushing you, if you know what I mean. It's just, every run matters, every single drill matters, and there's no slacking,' he continues. 'Whereas I think sometimes other managers will sit back and they'll watch the drill for what they're looking for, and they might forget about certain things, whereas he always just demanded 100%, and that's not easy. 'But when you see him deliver it, it's doing the simple things at an unbelievably high level.' This year, Donegal's conditioning has stood out. In the ten games they have played so far, it's notable that they took and eventually overcame Armagh in extra-time. Rather than settle for a draw against Mayo, they pushed on for Ciaran Moore to shoot the winner. In wins over Louth, the second half of Monaghan and against Meath, they appeared to be growing stronger throughout the game. Is it something for Kerry to be spooked about? Maybe not. They themselves will certainly test just how fit Michael Murphy is, especially now that the noise around his physical challenges have been amplified. But if the game ticks into the wee small minutes and doubts cross your mind, you just never know. * Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here Written by Declan Bogue and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won't find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women's sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here .
The 42
2 days ago
- The 42
Running men: The secrets of Donegal's superb conditioning
WHEN JIM MCGUINNESS accepted the Donegal senior manager job, he hadn't any time to lose. He hadn't anything sorted, simply because on the occasions he had gone for the job previously, he put the effort in and didn't get it. This time, he didn't need any effort, the board were calling him to say the job was his. When he was a student at University Ulster Jordanstown, he shared a classroom with the former Ulster Rugby player and now Down strength and conditioning coach, Jonny Davis. In coaching terms, he had put the reps in. He understood physiology. One week after the first team meeting, the panel reported to Dunfanaghy for training on a Saturday morning. McGuinness tells the story in his autobiography; 'That morning, we did a very simple fist-passing and kicking drill, but for one minute flat out. The whistle went after ten seconds. 'Where are we at? Where are we at?' 'Not one player said one hundred percent. So we went back at it and the ball was flying about and there were mistakes galore and they were cursing and getting frustrated and complaining that they couldn't control the ball at that speed. Mistakes were good. After sixty seconds they were doubled over, red-faced, sucking in air. 'That's good,' I told them. 'All we need to do now is replicate that for another seventy.' Then, he brought them for afters after an hour of football. They took off their boots and jogged the two kilometres to the beach. He announced they would be doing two sets of six sprints, that would last 400 metres. 'There were no complaints,' he would write. 'But you could see it in the looks they exchanged: This guy is off his fucking rocker.' By then, he had Letterkenny man Adam Speer as his Strength and Conditioning Coach. Speer is a gym owner in his home town and has competed in Triathlons, while he has also completed Iron Man events. When Donegal were playing games in Clones, Speer would head off from his home sometimes before first light, and make his way there by his road bike. Advertisement In time, McGuinness would add other expertise to help his squad reach optimum fitness, such as Joe Gallanagh, formerly of Munster Rugby who was there for 2014. It's an element of Donegal that a great number of people seize on. Their aerobic capacity under McGuinness just appears to be on a different plane altogether. The All-Ireland semi-final mauling of Meath was a case in point. You sense the Royals slightly threw their cap at the season once Oisin Gallen's goal went in at the start of the second half. But sending on a series of athletes looking to put in the perfect audition for an All-Ireland final place made them look – on a day of a heatwave – in peak physical condition. When the Football Review Committee mentioned in public that they would be requesting the GPS data of county teams to make comparisons under the new rules introduced for 2025, they never had a chance of Donegal giving that information up. At the heart of all they do is a level of secrecy. Promises of anonymity didn't interest Donegal, and, why should they? What we do know is what people are prepared to share. Jim McGuinness. Cathal Noonan / INPHO Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO In 2011, after they had beaten Derry in the Ulster final, Kevin Cassidy said this about the sessions that followed, 'Jim's warmups are unbelievable. You feel like dying in the middle of them. We might have warmed up with the ball for half an hour. Then we go into our sprints, eighty-metre sprints, 100 metre sprints, shuttle runs, cones on twenty yards either side of you and you have to sprint there and back. 'You have four men in a line and if there is more than a second or two seconds difference between the four men, you go again. There is no slacking off, there is no way out. It's the hardest I've ever trained in my life.' Donegal would also adopt the latest gadgetry. When they went training, they wore GPS trackers. Nowadays, GPS chips are worn in vests or in pouches sewn on players' jerseys. They have been known to appear even in a club reserve championship fixture. But in 2011, they were revolutionary. None of that is to detract from the deeply held belief in Gaelic Games that hard training bonds a team and is the best shortcut to confidence. When McGuinness first came into the Donegal team for the 1992 season, they beat Fermanagh in the semi-final, but the players weren't happy with their fitness levels. In 'Sam's For The Hills', the definitive book on Donegal football up to the mid-90s, James McHugh noted that his brother Martin said he had no intention of turning up to disgrace himself in another Ulster final. 'We trained like dogs for a month,' said Martin Shovlin. 'Horses wouldn't have done the training we did,' said Anthony Molloy. Trainings soon looked different. A 15-minute run would be a warm up. Four 800 metre runs, four 400 metre runs and six 200 metre runs would follow. Occasionally, Martin McHugh himself would take a session that was dreaded by the others. Even he had his limits though. 'We did so much running I was fucked and I cut inside a cone,' the Wee Man said in the same book. 'Barry Cunningham was coming after me. He told me it was my fault that we were doing this training and that I'd have to run around those cones the same as everybody else! We didn't see a football for weeks.' Martin McHugh. James Meehan / INPHO James Meehan / INPHO / INPHO The value of hard work was an early lesson for McGuinness, but none of it was without method. The thing is, that most strength and conditioning coaches all do similar courses of study. They intern at professional environments and soak up the lessons. There is a culture of information sharing and they migrate through various jobs with frequency. As a result, there are few avenues left unexplored in this area. Perhaps what makes Donegal a little different, and this has been referenced by Eamonn McGee recently, is McGuinness' ability to convince players that even though they feel they have nothing left to give, they have more in them. Nobody needs insider information for this. You only have to look at Karl Lacey, staggering around, out on his feet after Donegal's extra-time win over Kildare in the 2011. 'From 2014 to 2020 or 2018 when I stopped playing, there wasn't much change in the drilling, but it's the way Jim can speak,' says Darrach O'Connor, who played under McGuinness, Rory Gallagher and Declan Bonner. Related Reads 'At 18 years of age I would have done anything for football, at 21 I wanted an excuse to stop' 'One of my early years, I had the match played in my head a thousand times beforehand' David Clifford 'could be the best player that has ever played the game' - McGuinness 'It's just different. It just removes nearly all doubt from your mind. 'I just think to myself, my own story, the injuries I had, I went from loving Gaelic, and then feeling like, 'Just get through the session and don't get hurt.' 'I know rightly, if Jim was involved with the management, he would have just eradicated that. He does it in a way that you don't know he's pushing you, if you know what I mean. It's just, every run matters, every single drill matters, and there's no slacking,' he continues. 'Whereas I think sometimes other managers will sit back and they'll watch the drill for what they're looking for, and they might forget about certain things, whereas he always just demanded 100%, and that's not easy. 'But when you see him deliver it, it's doing the simple things at an unbelievably high level.' This year, Donegal's conditioning has stood out. In the ten games they have played so far, it's notable that they took and eventually overcame Armagh in extra-time. Rather than settle for a draw against Mayo, they pushed on for Ciaran Moore to shoot the winner. In wins over Louth, the second half of Monaghan and against Meath, they appeared to be growing stronger throughout the game. Is it something for Kerry to be spooked about? Maybe not. They themselves will certainly test just how fit Michael Murphy is, especially now that the noise around his physical challenges have been amplified. But if the game ticks into the wee small minutes and doubts cross your mind, you just never know. * Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
