CORK sporting hero Jimmy Barry-Murphy bumped into an old friend while down in Courtmacsherry recently, as he launched this year’s Great Wild Atlantic Marathon Walks.
The eighth edition of the Great Wild Atlantic Marathon Walks, a fundraiser for the Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat, will take place on Sunday August
11th.
The event with a variety of distances ranging from 5km to the full marathon (26.2 miles) offers stunning views of the coastline along the Seven Heads Peninsula in Barryroe.
It is a joint initiative between the Courtmacsherry Lifeboat Station and Barryroe GAA, under the promotion of the ‘Respect the Water’ campaign.
‘JBM’ launched this year’s walk at the pontoon in Courtmacsherry a few weeks ago alongside the new Shannon class all-weather RNLB Val Adnams. There he was joined by Cork dual minor player Luke Murphy from Barryroe and Courtmacsherry’s Dan O’Dwyer, Jimmy’s former playing partner on the Cork All-Ireland minor hurling winning team of 1971.
While they chatted about their playing days, Jimmy learned of Dan’s heroics as part of the Courtmacsherry Lifeboat crew who rescued three sailors from the yacht, Super Taff, during a violent storm in November 1998, for which Dan received a bronze medal.
Since its inception in 2017, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has also completed the full 26.2 mile walk each year, either on the day itself or another time, as his schedule allow.
A special commemorative walk tee shirt is available at the Courtmacsherry Community Shop or on the day of the walks for €15.
Registration for the event is available on line at www.eventbrite.ie and search Great Wild Atlantic Marathon Walks.
