Motivation

Richard will be running these races in an effort to raise money for two of the most vulnerable groups of the world in which we live – street children in the large cities of the developing world and abandoned and mistreated animals in our own society. Specifically, he hopes to raise funds for GOAL’s street children’s project in the Indian city of Calcutta and the GSPCA’s animal sanctuary in Galway, Ireland.

He will dedicate the races to his mother Mary, who died in June 2000. Mary was an avid admirer and supporter of GOAL’s work in the developing world and a keen lover of all animals, especially cats. He will also be remembering his father Paul, who died in April 1998, but who was buried on the same day as Mary. Paul, who had donated his body for scientific research in the intervening period, was one of the founding members of the credit union movement in Ireland, a fiery campaigner for the rights of the underprivileged in Ireland and a real animal enthusiast.