Éamonn Cashin joy after completing ‘coolest race on earth’

Running 42 kilometres seems a daunting task to many people but imagine attempting it in the Tundra in knee deep snow, surrounded by ice and snowstorms in temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees celsius, only to get up he very next day and run a further 21 kilometres in the same conditions.

Not only did Éamonn Cashin complete Greenland’s Polar Bear Challenge, he finished seventh overall, ahead of several US Navy Seals, less than two years after a serious accident in which he suffered extensive injuries.

On December 11, 2013, Éamonn was struck by a car while riding his bicycle. He suffered brain injuries, partial loss of sight, a broken coccyx, vertigo and reduced hearing. Last weekend, the UCC student became the first Irish person ever to complete the Polar Bear Challenge, otherwise known as “The coolest race on earth,” just three days before his 35th birthday.