Jillian succeeds in Marathon challenge
29/10/12 Jillian McNulty age 36, who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis, who ran the marathon today in 8 hours. Picture: Arthur Carron/Collins
Jillian McNulty has spent most of her daily life ovecoming the odds.
On Bank Holiday Monday, the Longford town native illustrated this very fact once more by taking on 26 gruelling miles in the annual Dublin City Marathon.
The 36-year-old, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, started out at 5am before completing the course in a time of eight hours and 27 minutes.
Jillian’s exploits formed part of the Spar sponsored Spartan Challenge, involving 25 other novice athletes, all of whom received individual coaching and were assigned a trainer to help them realise their goal.
Her feat however was made all the more remarkable given that three of her five month training regime was spent on a bed in the new CF unit at Dublin’s St Vincent’s Hospital.
“I’m very, very sore and I probably resemble a 90-year-old,” she joked as she reflected on her achievements afterwards.
As for whether she intends repeating the dose any time soon, Jillian confessed she had thought about it.
“I will do five, ten kilometres and half marathons alright, but the full marathons are a lot of work. At the moment, I have my health and that’s the most important thing,” she stated.
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Weather for Longford, Ireland
Friday 24 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 5 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South
