Moate man to run four marathons in four days in memory of father

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Moate native James ‘Jimi’ Gillivan is preparing to run four marathons in four days to raise funds for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.

The four marathons stretch from October 24 to October 27 during which James will run from Athlone to Dublin in memory of his late father Andy ‘The Doll’ Gillivan.

The run will be completed in four parts, including a marathon from Athlone to Mullingar, Mullingar to Enfield, Enfield to Dublin, and culminating in the Dublin Marathon itself.

“My dad is my why,” James said. “He got diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in late October or November last year. MND is something that currently has no coming back from. For my dad, it progressed very quickly. We lost him in March of this year, so he didn’t get much time.”

James said his father was a great family man, and a community man who was well liked by the people of Moate.

When asked why he chose to support the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association, he said: “When Dad got sick, the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association put a lot of supports in place – I was taken aback by the level of care, and it was very dignified.”

In preparation for the marathon, James has been slowing down and increasing his mileage to make sure he can last the length of the fundraiser.

“I’m a runner so I didn’t feel like that running a marathon was enough of a fundraiser – that's when I decided I’d run to Dublin,” said Jimi, who lives in Athlone with his wife Orla and two daughters, Lil and Iris.

As of Friday, October 11, James had already raised over €17,000 for the cause.

“It’s beyond anything we thought we could raise. Now we know we can raise more,” he said. “It’s an honour and a privilege, and it puts a bit of pressure on.”

The Moate man is grateful to the community for the support they’ve given him so far, and extends his thanks to his family and friends for backing him in his journey – with a special thanks to Niall Mackey for his help.

“Dad knew about the fundraiser, I started planning in December,” James said. “I thought he might be there at the end, but unfortunately it progressed too quickly.”

To support Jimi in his mission to raise funds for the Irish Motor Neurone Association, go to: https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/JamesGillivan

You can follow his journey on Instagram and Facebook at ‘Run 4 MND 2024’, and James invites runners and members of the local community to join him on the marathons.