Four students hit the streets of the Holylands in Belfast at the weekend — not for the usual party antics, but to tackle a marathon.
Cormac Greene, Michael Greenan, Eoin Killen and Shane Quinn ran an entire marathon in the student heartland… just “for the craic.”
The four Ulster University undergrads are housemates from Kilkeel, Co Down, and live on Jerusalem Street.
Holylands map of marathon
Mechanical engineering student Cormac said the idea started as a joke among friends — despite three of the four having no marathon experience.
“About a month ago, Michael half-jokingly suggested we run a marathon, and I thought, ‘Why not?’ So, we decided to commit to doing it.
“I have experience with long-distance running and do ultra marathons, including the Norn Iron trail race and the Wicklow Ecotrail 80km trail race, but the other three had never run one before.
“I thought there’d be no better place for them to tackle their first marathon than the Holylands.
“The other three lads play GAA for Kilkeel, so that’s their athletic background.
“It was all just for a bit of craic, to be honest.”
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Running concurrently with the Irish Life Dublin Marathon, the 21-year-olds hit the streets around 8am and finished in just under five hours.
The group set off from their south Belfast student house without an exact plan, other than simply running until they reached the 26.2-mile mark and finishing at Hatfield House.
“We didn’t map out a route at all. We just decided we wanted to cover all the streets, up and down, flat out until we reached the marathon mark,” added Cormac.
“We started at our house and kept going until we finished at the Hatfield and enjoyed a well-earned pint. We are completely sick of looking at the Holylands’ streets now.”
Cormac Greene, Michael Greenan, Eoin Killen and Shane Quinn
Despite most of the group having zero experience with long-distance running, Cormac made it clear that giving up was never an option.
“At no point did we feel tempted to throw in the towel,” he added. “With about 10 kilometres to go, we experienced a few aches, pains and niggles along the way, but by then we were too far in to turn back. We pushed each other on until we hit our goal.
“The sense of achievement afterwards was unbelievable. We felt unreal, but after all that repetition, we never want to see those streets ever again.”
Once finished it was back to more traditional student exploits. Cormac explained: “Once we reached the Hatfield, we celebrated with a load of pints. We stayed glued to the sofa in the bar from 2pm until 2am.
“To be completely honest, we wouldn’t recommend it to a friend. We have little to show for it, but it’s a funny story, and it was a bit of craic, I suppose.”