TO HELL AND BACK AGAIN

SOME people are just gluttons for punishment.

- MARK McCADDEN

When you listen to James Tolan, 26, talk about the challenges he faced two years ago when he ran, with his brother Oisin, 19, from Dublin to Mayo in just four days, yet they are planning to do it all over again, youd stick them firmly in that bracket.

But then comes the explanation for their latest foray into the world of ultra-running later this month, and it starts to make sense.

Two years ago, the super-fit siblings raised a whopping €48,000 that they split between the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA) and the St Francis Hospice.

Their mum Elaine had battled with the wretched condition and they wanted to thank the organisations that helped give her as much comfort as possible in her fight.

The Tolans would have run it again last year, but James had just become the father of twins, so neither the training needed, nor the four-day stint away from home were achievable.

Now, he feels the time is right to put himself through another 230km of hell - this time with the route reversed, so that they finish at Castleknock GAA Club's grounds at Somerton.

James admits that even family members are questioning the brothers' sanity.

"When I first proposed running from Dublin to Mayo," he said, "a lot of my family thought it was madness, don't do it, why put yourself through it, you don't have to, why not cycle instead?

"I considered it and I just thought, no, it doesn't match the battle that my mam had to go through. Doing it by foot, it felt like it meant a lot more."