Parteen man’s marathon schedule hots up with Sahara run

SOUTH-East Clare will be represented in one of the most gruelling races when a Parteen man completes six marathons over five days next month.

Magnus Collins-Smyth will run 26 miles for four consecutive days and faces the prospect of completing a double marathon on the fifth day in the Sahara Desert.
The 26-year-old, who works part-time in a shop in Moyross, Limerick, only has two months to prepare for the arduous task of running 290k with 150 others from around the world in scorching heat on October 3.
He renews a partnership with friend David Byrnes from Coleraine in Derry after both of them completed a charity cycle from Capetown to Parteen for a number of local and international charities.
They managed to raise €39,000 but were left about €1,800 short for the SelfHelp charity, which does Trojan work in Sudan and Kenya, after a number of pledges failed to materialise.
Once the duo heard about this race, they decided to try and make amends by raising up to €2,000 from the marathons.
Magnus is receiving assistance from Chris de Loos from Trifest, Limerick who has set up a comprehensive training regime and daily schedule for the Sahara race.
“People run multiple marathons every year but running in heat of 50°C and on sand will make it much more difficult than an ordinary marathon.
“I suppose I will not know how I will definitely fare until I come back. I have tried not to think about it too much and I don’t want to look too far ahead. I just concentrate on my training regime that Chris has laid out for me,” he said.
Last Saturday, Magnus ran the Dingle marathon in four hours and twenty minutes and the following day, he trained for three hours in the sand in Doonbeg. On Monday, he swam for one hour at the University of Limerick, took a day off on Tuesday and on Wednesday ran a 20k temp run at different speeds. On Friday, he ran a marathon from Ennis to Parteen.
People can still make donations through a paypal system to SelfHelp at www.selfhelpafrica.ie.