65-year-old woman running around Irish coast in aid of lifeboat charity

A Wicklow woman, who is soon to get her pension, is running around the whole of the Irish coast in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute.

Mary Nolan Hickey from Arklow, Wicklow, is already something of an heroine in Irish sporting circles as the only woman to have run every single Dublin marathon since the event began in 38 years ago. Now she’s undertaking a new, even more arduous test of her endurance.

“I'm 65 and this year marks 50 years of being involved in athletics and I wanted to take on a special challenge,” she told readers on her Everyday Hero fundraising page.

“I decided that on January 1, 2018, I would set off to cover the entire coast of Ireland which is approximately 3,000km [1,860 miles]”.

@kilkeelrnli Mary Nolan Hickey set off this morning from the station with the support of local runners - Mary on her 'lap of the map' of Ireland will be raising money for the RNLI Donations can be made through the Everyday hero fundraising page under RNLI Lap of the Map. pic.twitter.com/BFFDYBdNrP

— Kilkeel RNLI (@kilkeelrnli) January 7, 2018

She added, “This will be the longest time I will have ever been out of Arklow and as it is solo, it will be a very emotional and psychologically challenging journey. I am apprehensive and excited at the same time.”

Meet the 65-year-old woman from Arklow, County Wicklow who is undertaking an epic challenge to run around the island of Ireland. pic.twitter.com/NgP34ReawF

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) January 5, 2018

Any money raised will be split equally between RNLI crews across Ireland, but her local station in Wicklow are particularly proud of her efforts.

“All of us at Arklow RNLI are very proud of and fully behind Mary, we'd like to encourage all of our fellow volunteers right around the coast to get on board and see what they can do to assist Mary in her goal,” Mark Corcoran of Arklow RNLI told The Wicklow People.

Read More: First American woman in 40 years wins NYC marathon - Congrats Shalane Flangagan!

At the time of writing she's raised $5,634 but she's hoping she can raise a total of $24,000 and if you'd like you help her you can click  here to donate.