Runner of the week: Peter Mooney
Now training for his 85th marathon, the Kildare man says he never expected to reach this milestone.
“It’s a record I didn’t think I’d have,” he said. The 39-year-old ran his first marathon in 2002 to improve his fitness.
“I thought of joining a gym. My brother told me it would be better if I trained for something like a marathon so I’d have a goal to keep me going. I trained and ran the first one and I’ve been running ever since.”
He takes it one marathon at a time and hopes to continue running for as long as he can.
“You take each one as it comes. I’m always trying to improve on the one before, so that’s kept me going.”
Peter has taken part in every Cork City Marathon since it was revived in 2007 and loves spending the weekend in Cork with his wife.
“My wife and I love coming to Cork for the marathon every year. We make a full weekend of it,” Peter said.
“Cork has a big city feel but the people are so friendly and they even remember us every year. When we check into the hotel every June they remember us, they nearly remember what my race time was the year before!”
Peter says moving the race back from Monday to Sunday was a great idea.
“It gets a huge thumbs up from me,” he said.
“Now I don’t have to face into a long trip home after the race and work the next morning. I can actually relax and we’ll enjoy spending the Monday after the marathon in Cork.”
Coming to Cork for the marathon is a highlight of the couple’s year.
“It’s a habit we’re not going to break,” Peter promises.
