Man who ran from Navan to Donegal says it was “pure endurance battle”

A MAN who ran from Navan to Donegal in memory of his best friend, who passed away says the experience was a “pure endurance battle.”

Dave Tyrrell ran an extraordinary 227km the equivalent to five marathons in over three days raising over €10,000 so far for SOSAD and Meath River Rescue, two charities that became close to his heart following the tragic death of a close friend in 2017.

Dave admits his life spiralled out of control in the intervening years after his friend passed leading him down a road of addiction, anxiety and depression that made him feel “like he had no way out.” However with the support of his family along with discovering running, a pastime he says has helped to “save his life,” the dad-of-two has come out the other side and is on a mission to let other people struggling know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Speaking after the mammoth challenge, he said:

“It still hasn’t hit me what I have done, it’s still sinking in.

“It was a pure endurance battle. I have never experienced emotions like I went through on that third day, the dark places that my mind went to, from being on top of the world to wanting to get in the van and drive home.

“I couldn’t have done it without the huge amount of support I had the whole way through from the team that was with me to family and friends coming to get me through another stage, I will never forget it.”

In excruciating pain and with dampened spirits on the third day, Dave says he wanted to give up but sought inspiration from his late pal as he explains:

“I broke down crying at that point and I started talking to Derek and I got into a rhythm then and the pain started to go away little bit because I had him in my mind as well as the finish line.

“We got a good pace going for a while and then about 6.30 in the morning I saw my sisters and all the friends coming down the road. We were in the middle of the hills in Donegal in the dark, it was a special moment. They all stayed with me the whole way for the sixteen hours to the finish line. If I didn’t have that support on the final day, I definitely wouldn’t have made it.”

Not only did the Navan man's friends and family push him on so did the community in Donegal.

“When we got to Dungloe there were kids out on the street with signs saying go Dave, they all got in behind me and followed me up to the finish line, it was amazing,” he said.

“I remember just turning around and looking up the hill and just cars coming over the hill with the lights on, everybody beeping horns and the cars kept coming and coming, it was like the tribe was behind me.”

To donate see https://www.gofundme.com/f/daves-fundraising-run-from-navan-to-donegal