Visually-impaired runner Sinéad Kane conquers seven marathons in seven days
President Michael D Higgins heralded her as an “exceptional role model”.
The 34-year-old Youghal, Co Cork, native finished the World Marathon Challenge in Sydney on Sunday having started her voyage in Antarctica.
Sinéad, who has 5% vision, took up running five years ago and did the mini-marathon in 2012.
Her seven-day challenge took her from Antarctica on January 23, to Chile on January 24, Miami on January 25, Madrid on January 26, Marrakech on January 27, Dubai on January 28 and Sydney on January 29.
Along with her guide, runner John O’Regan, the pair completed the final marathon on Sunday in a time of 4:42:59.
Furthermore, she came joint first in the Dubai leg of the challenge.
“The last seven days have been a character-building experience for me. It’s been a huge adventure,” she said.
However, she nearly convinced herself that she could not complete the final leg of the seven-marathon challenge.
“We began running at 1am Sydney time — it was dark, and within three miles I had stomach issues.
“I wasn’t fully recovered as I had put a lot of energy into the Dubai race, so from miles three to 10, I kept telling myself I just couldn’t do it, that I just didn’t have it in me to complete the final leg of the World Marathon Challenge,” said Sinéad.
She said all the support from home kept her going over the course of the gruelling endeavour.
“I have had high moments and low moments on this trip over the last week, so thanks for all of the belief and support in me, all of the emails, tweets and messages kept me going,” she said.
Yesterday, President Higgins led the praise for the Cork woman.
“Hers is an extraordinary achievement and she’s an exceptional role model,” he said.
The marathon challenge is not the only first for Sinead as she qualified as Ireland’s first legally blind solicitor in 2009.
She is also a PhD student in the School of Education Studies’ Anti-Bullying Centre in Dublin City University.
Sinéad has also delivered a talk about the issue of bullying in schools.
She said one of the reasons she took on the seven marathons was because she wanted to change the way people think about disability.
“I am passionate about challenging the status quo about disability and encouraging people to think differently about their own abilities,” said the 34-year-old.
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