Co Kildare man is guide runner for first visually impaired athlete marking World Record seven marathons over one week

A Co Kildare man is celebrating today after helping to assist the first visually impaired athlete to complete the World Marathon Challenge, a race consisting of seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.

With just 5% vision, Cork native Sinéad Kane did it with her guide runner, at her side, Leixlip man John O’Regan.

The first challenge for Sinead began at Dublin airport as she has a “big fear” of flying, but worse followed in the Antarctica.

There she endured blisters on her feet and temperatures of -35 degrees and at the half-way mark started to fade from exhaustion. However, she persisted.

Sinéad and John began the extraordinary challenge on Monday (23rd January) in the Antarctica, and completed their seventh marathon yesterday in Sydney in 4:42:59.

In her blog, Sinéad said: "There are certain things in life that I will never be able to do because of my bad eyesight. I will never be able to watch a sunrise or sunset. I will never own a car or be able to drive. I will never be able to see the world like fully sighted people. Even on this trip I won’t be able to see the beauty of the places that I will visit, but at least I get to go."

Today President Michael D. Higgins said: "Hers is an extraordinary achievement and she's an exceptional role model."

23-Jan Marathon in Antarctica 24-Jan Marathon in Punta Arenas 25-Jan Marathon in Miami 26-Jan Marathon in Madrid 27-Jan Marathon in Marrakech 28-Jan Marathon in Dubai 29-Jan Marathon in Sydney