A Co Down man cheered on by Carl Frampton as he ran almost 60 miles as part of a Prostate Cancer UK fundraising campaign has raised over £12k.
Clive O’Neill from Newtownards took on the charity’s ‘Run the Month — A Marathon Edition’ and smashed his original target of £1k thanks to the generosity of local residents and businesses in the town.
Clive O’Neill
The 48-year-old, who first encountered the charity two decades ago when a number of his friends were diagnosed with the disease, more than double the required distance finishing at 57.2 miles.
“Since then, I’ve had lots of friends affected,” Clive explained.
“Two are currently still undergoing treatment in the town where I have my business and they both have businesses.
“Three men in our local pub have now recovered and a neighbour at home, Raymond McKee, who’s a great advocate of Prostate Cancer UK.”
The fruit and veg vendor was conscious about his weight when he took on the challenge and was keen to return to training “for a long time” but struggled due to injury.
“Everything in life is really about timing I believe. I was over 21 stone and I’d been wanting to get back training for a long time but due to bad knees and a really bad hip I couldn’t.”
Clive finished the final two miles outside his shop in Newtownards
In September last year, Clive decided to make a change after speaking to an old friend who had six years of strength and conditioning coaching experience.
He said the encounter was just the kick he needed, as his pal agreed to help him.
“Fast forward 19 weeks [to] today and I’m under 105kg (16.5 stone) and this is where the Prostate Cancer UK challenge came in,” Clive explained.
“I was looking to push myself harder and join a gym, which in January I was reluctant to do with all the new people joining which I would have been one of.
“Between Christmas and the New Year, the ‘Run The Month’ advert popped up on my Facebook and I said ‘that’s too easy, I’ll do that twice’ — and here we are.”
Clive with some supporters
Clive, who is a big fan of former boxing world champion Carl Frampton received an encouraging message from his hero which spurred him on during tough training days.
“He sent me a video just to say he thought it was fantastic what I was doing,” he explained.
“There’s only one Frampton fight I didn’t get to — I’ve followed his career for years so it was nice for him to get behind me.”
The fundraiser, who ran the final two-mile stretch of the challenge on a treadmill outside his shop in Conway Square, is humble about his physical accomplishment and the money raised.
“Remember, I’m only the fat guy running,” he said in a message to his supporters. “It’s you that made this possible.
“Let’s all do what we can to raise awareness.”