Christmas Cheer: ‘Running barefoot brought out the inner child in me’

A bereaved father from Navan who successfully took on the challenge of running a 50-mile barefoot marathon says the experience connected him with his son who tragically passed away when he was just one-day old.

On 27th September Ian Lawton (49) ran just under two full marathons completing 33 2.5km loops totalling 81km on the Hill of Tara in an incredible time of 13 hours.

Animal lover Ian who was once 25 stone and morbidly obese turned his life around in 2018 and lost eleven stone in nine months.

He came up with the idea for the marathon to raise money to build a new home for two pigs in Back into Daylight, a sanctuary in Navan that cares for over 400 animals.

Donations totaling €1,500 was raised and Bella and Charlotte are now in their new home.

The barefoot runner is no stranger to pushing himself to the limit and during lockdown he undertook an ultra marathon distance of 41 miles (66km) around 2km loops of his neighbourhood deciding to go the “extra mile” to raise money for the “superhero doctors and nurses who fought to save his son” Hank who tragically passed away 24 hours after he was born in 2011.

The brave dad raised over €3,000 and provided care packages for every special baby care unit in Ireland. The dad of two who lost an incredible eleven stone in nine months says that “running saved his life.”

Looking back on his year of achievements he said:

“The marathon I did for the special baby care units is one that will always be something very special to me because I did it for my son Hank.

“I sent out the care packages anonymously with no contact details so no one could get back in touch with me but some nurses managed to track me down.

“It was lovely and I cried so much reading their messages and how appreciative they were to be acknowledged

“The barefoot marathon is probably the most excruciating thing I’ve ever done but also the most rewarding thing I’ve ever taken on.

“Running barefoot brought out the inner child in me which felt like a manifestation of my lost son and it really connected me with childhood and the childhood I missed out on with him.

“And I’m delighted I was able to help give Bella and Charlotte a new home.”

Ian is set to undertake his fourth ultra marathon of the year on 13th December completing 50km in laps around Navan Educate Together School where his son Ike attends. He aims to raise money for school resources.

“It will mark the two-year anniversary of my very first 5km run so it will be a really nice way to finish the year,” he said.