Meelick man makes bid to become king of the Spartans

A highly motivated Meelick novice is gearing up for the Dublin City Marathon in his bid to become the ‘King Spartan’ out of 26 competitors.
Peter Fitzgerald was chosen to represent Clare in this year’s Dublin City Marathon in the 2012 Spar Spartan Challenge and is now half way through the race series designed to prepare him for the Dublin Marathon on October 29.
He completed the Fingal 10km race on Sunday, July 22, in 39 minutes, building on his five-mile race time in Phoenix Park on Sunday, July 1, which he completed in 30 minutes.
The next race that Peter and the 26-strong team of Spartans will take on is the Frank Duffy 10-mile race in Phoenix Park on August 25 followed by the Dublin Half-Marathon on September 15.
Peter teaches a run/cycle/fitness group called Tri-Hards. He loves motivating his members to be the best they can be and as the name suggests they always try hard.
Like a Spartan warrior, he pays his comrades respect and honour and expect the same in return. He offers support when needed, tough love when necessary and expects greatness when greatness is possible.
In his Spartan blog, he describes himself as loyal, strong and self-disciplined, like the Greek soldiers of legend.
“I am known for my fighting spirit. Each time I train, I push myself to the limit in order to become stronger, faster and better than before. I never give up, for me, it’s go hard or go home and going home is never an option.
“Spartans trained with conviction, fighting for their families and future generations. I too trained like a Spartan during a gruelling and intense eight-week white-collar boxing programme in aid of charity with the great Michael Carruth and Ken Moore.
“The odds were stacked against me after acquiring a severe injury during training. Despite the challenge, I fought on like the true Spartan that I am and won,” he said.
Following his selection as one of the 26 Spartans, he has pledged to proudly represent Clare and leave nothing on the battlefield in order to conquer the Dublin City Marathon.
“To borrow a famous Spartan phrase, ‘I will come home with my shield or upon it’.”
“I’m totally up for the whole Spartan sword and shield image, however, my legs look better in sports shorts than loin cloths,” he joked.
The 26 marathon novices are being guided in their preparation by fitness guru, Karl Henry from Operation Transformation and nutrition expert, Paula Mee who are spearheading the campaign. They have also been put through a Chi-running workshop by former Olympian and triple marathon winner, Catherina McKiernan.
Karl has a BSc from University College Dublin, where he achieved a first  class honours in his thesis on obesity in children. He also has a personal training diploma from the American Academy of Bodysculpting and a diploma from the American Council of Exercise.
The Spartan Challenge isn’t about finding the fastest marathon runner in Ireland. It’s about ordinary people taking on a personal challenge to improve their health and fitness and, hopefully, inspiring others to do the same.
Finalists will be judged on three separate criteria: determination to succeed, overall improvement and dedication to the challenge.
The Spartan judged to have most fully embraced all aspects of the challenge will win a trip for two to New York to watch the New York City marathon on November 4.
Suzanne Weldon, marketing director, BWG Foods owners of the Spar brand in Ireland congratulated Peter on completing the Fingal 10km race in such a great time and wished him all the best in the upcoming Frank Duffy 10-mile race.
“Completing a marathon is a massive goal and ambition for many people and through the Spartan challenge we aim to make that goal a reality for people from all around the country,” he said.
Spar also aims to drive awareness and support for its charity of the year the 3Ts – Turning the Tide of Suicide. The 3Ts aims to heighten awareness of the problem of suicide in Ireland and to raise funds to help lower suicide rates through a dedicated suicide prevention helpline ‘1 Life’ (freephone 1 800 247100), research, educational support and intervention. The 1Life service is provided through a partnership involving the 3Ts and Console.