‘The man above will decide when I hang up my runners’, says Longford's Liam Fenelon after remarkable 346th marathon

Longford's more affectionaly dubbed 'Marathon Man' added yet another accolade to his burgeoning medal haul in recent days owing to his completion of the National Marathon Master Men 80 + challenge in Dublin.

It was his 346th successful completion of a 26 mile event and came prior to him turning 81 at the weekend.

The remarkable feat was achieved in a time just shy of the seven hour mark as Liam crossed the line accompanied by his long time Donegal running partner and friend, Peter McGlynn.

With medal in hand and a chance to improve his already impressive golfing handicap, you would think the time had come for Liam to hang up his running shoes once and for all.

But as the cordial father of three explained himself, retirement is the furthest thing from his mind.

“I am hoping to reach the 350 (mark) for the Longford Marathon (in August) and I have Cork and Belfast in between that,” he said.

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Asked where he gets his insatiable hunger for marathon running from, Liam said one underlying sense of fulfillment outweighed all others.

“I think it is a friendship thing because I did the Famine Walk not too long ago with another man, Larry Rigney from Strokestown to Dublin,” he revealed.

“We completed that in four days and that was the guts of 100 miles and last year myself and Peter did the Comrades Marathon which was a 54 ultra marathon.”

Liam's appetite to push his body to lengths most of us can only is beyond admirable.

Just days before calling into the Leader proudly with his latest medal in tow, Liam, together with his wife Mary and Peter completed 33 miles over the course of two energy sapping days.

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And while it is a far cry from his running heyday when marathons were routinely finished close to the three hour mark, for Liam there is much more and plenty of other targets to aim at.

“I try every week to run two miles and I am down to 13 minutes for two miles,” he said.

“I want to get that down further and I just think if I wasn't doing what I am doing I would have serious health problems.”

As for what and when will ultimately decide his marathon exploits going forwards, Liam sat back in his chair, smiled and replied while pointing towards the ceiling: “The man above, that's when I'll stop.”