EIGHTY-TWO-year-old Brendan Mulhall completed his 75th parkrun at Dunleath Playing Fields on Saturday past, in the process raising almost £7,000 for Air Ambulance NI.
The Downpatrick man took part in his first parkrun in May 2024 and, after completing 50, decided to contact Air Ambulance NI to offer his services as a fundraiser for the charity. Brendan admits he can’t really put his finger on why he started his parkrun journey, joking: “I’m honestly struggling to find an answer for that, I must have had a bad hair day!” Since his first run at Dunleath Playing Fields two years ago, Brendan has gone on to complete 75 parkruns at various locations, including Castlewellan, Belfast and Carrickfergus. That equates to 375 kms or 233 miles.
Once he had reached the 50 parkrun-mark, he decided he wanted to use his parkrun exploits to raise money for charity. “After I did 50 parkruns, which was tough, I thought to myself, well nobody has got anything out of this apart from me, it’s a bit of a waste. “So I thought: ‘How can I use this to help somebody?’” Brendan called Air Ambulance NI, a helicopter emergency medical service dedicated to responding to serious trauma and medical emergencies in Northern Ireland.
He explained why he decided to raise funds for the life-saving charity. “They don’t have regular government funding and they provide a unique service in Northern Ireland. “You never know when you’re going to need it, so I just thought, these guys need our support if we can help them at all,” Brendan said.
When Brendan set up his JustGiving page, he set his target at £5,000. That amount has now reached £6,880 at the time of writing, with the former electrical engineer donating £250 of his own money to mark his 75th parkrun on Saturday past. He completed the run alongside members of his family, who travelled from England to run alongside him.
