Local man to run for 24 hours for mental health charity

An Athlone man is set to run for 24 hours straight early next month in aid of mental health charity Jigsaw.

Warren Francis from Auburn Heights is planning to take to the Athlone Regional Sports Centre outdoor 2.5km track on December 4 and has a goal of running 100 miles in total.

Warren says he decided to take on the challenge having previously attempted the Connemara 100-mile ultramarathon in August.

"For that race I got to mile 82 and my ankles just gave out," he said. "I was disappointed for a few days but after a while I began to look at the positives like my nutrition plan which went perfectly. I'm not fully sure what happened but I think I just might not have been running for long enough."

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent before that race, Warren explained that he only started running 18 months previously and soon fell in love with it.

"I took two weeks off after that run, and I knew I wanted to complete a 100 mile run before the end of the year," he continued. "I looked at doing the Kerry Way Ultra, which is 120 miles, or the Connemara 100 again but they are not until next year, so I decided to make this challenge myself.

"I also wanted to do a run for charity at some stage. I was running on the sports centre track and the crazy idea of running 100 miles there came into my head."

Warren then reached out to Jigsaw, a charity which offers mental health advice and support to young people all across Ireland, from the ages of 12-25, who got on board with the plan.

"They are a really important charity for mental health, and I know after lockdowns young people might be struggling a bit, especially at Christmas."

Warren, his girlfriend, friends and family will each be donating €1 for every kilometre he runs, with the overall aim of raising €100 per hour of the run or €2,400 in total.

"I hope to run 180km (111 miles) on the day, and not stop at all. I might run 40 minutes, followed by a two minute walk, and I plan to have the car full of food and gels to keep me going.

"I've broken it down and I'll have to do three laps an hour to reach that goal."

Some of his friends and supporters will also be joining him for different parts of the run, and he is encouraging others to do the same, or to come to the track and cheer him on.

"I purposely chose 10am as the start time so that more people will have the opportunity to come down for the finish on Sunday," he finished.

Those who would like to donate to Warren's fundraiser can do so by visiting www.idonate.ie/prettyaveragerunning