Northern Ireland

Co Antrim man to celebrate 65th birthday by attempting to run 600 marathons in 600 weeks

Eugene Winters, who is known as Oggie, will celebrate his 65th birthday by attempting to run 600 marathons in 600 weeks
Eugene Winters, who is known as Oggie, will celebrate his 65th birthday by attempting to run 600 marathons in 600 weeks Eugene Winters, who is known as Oggie, will celebrate his 65th birthday by attempting to run 600 marathons in 600 weeks

A CO Antrim man is to celebrate his 65th birthday by attempting to run 600 marathons in 600 weeks.

Eugene Winters, who is known as Oggie, will start his amazing feat of endurance with the Belfast Marathon next month after reaching the milestone age.

It comes 10 years after he completed a similar challenge of running 300 marathons in 300 weeks - finishing ahead of his deadline at 270 weeks.

Other running accomplishments include competing in 85 marathons in 2014, 61 in 2015 and a massive 95 in 2016 and he has also completed all the 'Marathon Majors' - London, Boston, New York, Chicago, Berlin and Tokyo marathons.

The remarkable runner has also twice ran 10 marathons in 10 days and taken part in the 'Hell of the Hill' endurance event, which involves running five of the toughest marathons in the UK, in five days.

In 2016 he successfully ran the Victoria Park endurance event in Belfast, running 100 miles in 24 hours and is a member of several elite marathon clubs around the world.

His best time was the Newry marathon, which he finished in three hours 37 minutes.

Mr Winters is undertaking the latest mammoth challenge in aid of Action Mental Health, which he hopes will inspire others.

"It was very tough going at times, and I struggled to complete some of the marathons," he said.

"I ran through injury at a few events and I had to rely on my own mental strength and toughness to get me through. I hope that my efforts will maybe inspire other people to go out and do something active.

"I firmly believe exercising and keeping active can help not just our physical health but our mental health too.

"When I had completed the 300 marathons in 270 weeks, beating my own challenge of 300 weeks I thought what better way to celebrate than to donate some money to Action Mental Health, to help support the vital work they do across Northern Ireland."

Jonathan Smyth from Action Mental Health said: "Oggie got in touch with us again to let us know about his new personal challenge and we are absolutely thrilled to have his support and generosity once again.

"Oggie has pledged to donate £1,000 to support our vital mental health services, when he completes his challenge.

"We know that running and all physical activity is a great way of supporting your mental health, so we are particularly delighted to be the beneficiary of this amazing challenge and wish Oggie well."