ROB MURRAY: I’m speaking with local runner and author Alan Corcoran. We’re here to talk about your brand new book called Marathon Man. You did quite an incredible feat. What can you tell us about it?

ALAN CORCORAN: I was the first person to run a lap of Ireland. It was 1,500 kilometres, and I did that by running one marathon every day for 35 days consecutively. I raised 15,000 Euros for charity at the time as well.

RM: What inspired you to do this run?

AC: It was a combination of things, but it was mainly triggered by my father having a stroke. I was 20 years old at the time and he was 60. That’s what kicked me into action.

RM: Why the coast of Ireland?

AC: That was just a dream of mine. I was originally introduced to marathon running by just seeing the London Marathon on TV. That was the initial spark of inspiration, but then I saw Eddie Izzard running 43 marathons in 51 days on TV. Also, a few years after that, I learned about the Terry Fox story. That sort of raised my gaze from wanting to run a marathon to wanting to run a multi-stage marathon and doing it Irish style.

RM: For example, Day 29 of your run, you wake up in the morning, it’s like, I just ran 28 marathons, now I have to do it again. What kept you motivated to continue with it?

AC: Yeah, I suppose it was worse when it was Day 1 or Day 2, when you’re thinking I’ve got 34 marathons ahead of me. When I got that far, when I was around 29, you were on the homeward stretch. It was triggered by my dad’s stroke and was in aid of the Irish Heart Foundation. There was no stopping me and I didn’t want to let them down, and didn’t want to let myself down or my family. My dad had luckily survived the stroke and was working through his rehabilitation in hospital while helping me on this project, so there was no stopping me.

RM: What were some other challenges you encountered?

AC: Every injury under the sun, you name it. I had sensitive sore nipples, toenails falling off, swollen feet, back pain, but also just the logistic challenge. People, when they hear you’re running a lap of Ireland, they just solely think about running, but this was a charity fundraising project as well. There was all the publicity side of things, trying to arrange accommodation, support vehicles, food, physio…I was just trying to be a problem solver and taking each day as they came.

RM: When you started the run, did he know you were going to write a book about it? What inspired you to actually put pen to paper?

AC: When COVID kicked off I was stuck for things to do when I was locked inside. I was in London at the time and there was a very strict lockdown; you couldn’t go anywhere. That sort of sparked the inspiration to write. While I was actually running the marathons I was just keeping a daily log. I just sort of stalled that project for a few years. I was doing follow-up events to the lap of Ireland. I swam the length of Ireland, so a 500 kilometre sea swim for charity. I was kept busy with other projects, and then came back then to write this Marathon Man book, which was a marathon experience in and of itself.

RM: What brought you to move to Canmore?

AC: My partner Carlina fell in love with the place a few years ago when she came. I had never been to Canada, so I said, hey, why not? Let’s go. I’m loving it here so far. We moved here in September and joined the local Canmore Trail Culture running group on Tuesdays and Dirtbag Runners on Thursdays. Can’t complain, loving it here.

RM: Where is your book available locally?

AC: People can pick this up at Cafe Books, or they can buy it at Strides running shop as well. Then obviously it’s available in the usual places online, Amazon Audible, and Kindle.

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