A British man has run the width of the country in just under 24 hours, bolstered by listening to one of his favourite bands U2 and drinking a well-earned pint of Guinness at his final stop in Dublin city centre.
Robert Pope, 44, is a marathon champion from Liverpool and he ran from Galway city to Dublin in just 23 hours and 39 minutes. He took on the 134 mile (215 km) journey after a pint of Guinness in Galway, before finishing with another pint at the end of the route on Sunday, August 7.
Originally from London, Robert decided to tackle the mammoth route a little over two months ago to raise funds for the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF). He documented much of his preparation and his journey on Twitter, winning over a legion of Irish fans.
Read more: Kind-hearted man raffling home to raise funds for best friend's son's life-saving cancer treatment
Robert set off from Galway's Spanish Arch at 10:30pm on Saturday, August 6, and he told the BBC that fatigue set in much quicker than he anticipated. He said: "The wheels nearly came off very early, because we'd gone about 24 miles, maybe four hours into it, and I'd been nauseous for the last two. I just said to the guys, 'I don't think this is me over-reacting, but I think I'm going to have to quit."
He managed to get back on track with a well-timed can of Coke and some painkillers along with the support of his team. Robert mainly followed a route of traditional backroads in addition to some canal pathways in order to avoid busy motorway traffic, and speaking to the BBC, he paid tribute to the strangers who came out to support him on his jaunt.
He said: "One fella, he'd driven down about 45 minutes having heard about it and he brought us down a bunch of bananas. And my body just went 'yes, you want one of them, have one of them."
Meanwhile, Robert was delighted when a fellow runner named Tony stopped by to drive him forward once he reached Dublin. He said: "I had about 10 miles to go. I'm in a hole at this point and Tony comes along and asks, 'Do you mind if I run with you' and I was just like 'yeah, but I really need to concentrate now'.
"So, we just worked together, and it got to the point where I was following him... he would warn oncoming traffic. We came off the Royal Canal heading down into Dublin as the sun was going down," added Robert.
Robert finished his journey with an extra mile's run to the Samuel Beckett bridge, reportedly becoming the the first person to run across Ireland in 24 hours. He also raised more than £2,100 for the for the World Wildlife Foundation.
Irish social media fans praised Robert for being a "legend" by completing the journey in style. One person wrote: "What a legend, fair play Robert it's true what they say, a pint of Guinness is the only fuel you need."
Another person wrote: "Wow, what a brilliant thing to do. Fair play to him." A third person said: "Rob so many congratulations. Yet another mind-blowing feat."
It's not the first big trek for the Liverpool native, and in 2018 he ran more than 15,000 miles across the United States as a tribute to the 1994 film "Forrest Gump".
Read Next:
- Ballymun man cycles to Killarney for mental health charity after overcoming struggles
- Determined Celbridge lads start gruelling cycle to Geneva in aid of children's charities
Pensioner who accidentally left €2,500 in suitcase given to charity shop asks for public's help
Finglas church appeal to find long lost replica ahead of centenary celebrations
Charlie Bird thanks public after charity climb reaches 'staggering' milestone of over €3 million
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
