A Roscommon man rang in the new year in unique fashion by running 101km from his front door in Frenchpark to Blackrock Pier in Galway. Barry Potter undertook the monumental run to raise awareness and funds for the young people’s mental health charity, Jigsaw.
The personal trainer, who is now based in Galway, told the Roscommon Herald that the decision to undertake the run was a spur of the moment idea.
“I only really decided to do it two weeks before I actually set off, but I was just consistently running all year.
“I had no major goals in mind, I was just running because of the way it made me feel.”
The combination of the positivity Barry felt after running along with the help he received from Jigsaw made it an easy decision for him to run on behalf of the charity.
“It just seemed right, seeing as when I started running it wasn’t for fitness and it was more just because the way I felt after every run. I was so elated compared to how I was when I started the run. It just really helped me process whatever it was that I was going through at the time,” he explained.
The former Castlerea Community School student expressed deep gratitude to the charity.
“It just seemed right to do it for Jigsaw since it helped me,” he said.
In raising awareness about the charity and the benefits of running, he felt it would point people who may be experiencing mental health difficulties in the direction of the support services that exist.
“People might be down and they don’t realise that there are tools out there like running, even if it’s 1km or half a kilometre, it’s more than what you’ve done before.”
Barry Potter on his run from Frenchpark to Galway. Pictures: Courtesy of Barry Potter.
Potter had previous experience in running a marathon (42km) before, but he had never attempted an ultra-marathon.
On hitting the 90km mark, he admitted that he struggled to see where he could muster the energy for the final stretch.
“All my friends were supporting me, saying, ‘oh you can do this, you can do this’, but I was in Renmore in Galway and I was trying to work out how I could make up this last 10km,” he said.
Luckily, long-time friend from Lisacul, Kealan O’Callaghan, was ready to give Barry one final push.
“I just got a pat on my back and I turned around and it took me about 10 seconds to process who it was.
“It was Kealan in his gear but I just couldn’t recognise him because I was in such a frenzy after the 90km.”
With that final boost, Barry reached the finish line, where he celebrated with friends and family.
He described the feeling in his quads after the run like “little baby aliens”.
A humorous picture was taken when he bent down to pick his five-year-old daughter, Alaia at the finish line.
“I have a good picture with her at the finish line.
“It looks like I’m shouting my head off, but it was just because I tried picking her up and as I went down to bend, my knees, my quads just completely ignited.”
On top of raising awareness and funds for Jigsaw, he was immensely proud to do the run for his daughter.
He said he looked forward to running with her in the future, although she did tell him “you might need to carry me for a bit”.
Barry successfully reached his €2,200 goal for Jigsaw and donations can still be made on his GoFundMe page.
