He would probably prefer to be running north to cooler climes, but south is the direction that Tom McGrath will be taking this Friday when he sets off from Manhattan for a 250 mile run to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
McGrath will be wearing out his running shoes as part of the effort by the Ancient Order of Hibernians to raise funds for a memorial at the U.S. Naval Academy in honor of Wexford native Commodore John Barry, the navy's first flag officer.
The academy, which already boasts "Barry Gate" as one of its entrances, will ultimately be the site for an eight-foot-tall granite monument in honor of Barry.
Starting this Friday, July 20, McGrath will set out from the door of his bar/restaurant, the Black Sheep, on Third Avenue near 38th St., and run a zigzag route to Annapolis.
McGrath's first day on the road will include a fundraiser in Brooklyn hosted, appropriately enuogh, by the borough's Commodore Barry Club.
He will be making stops for more fundraisers along the way in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Contributions to the memorial fund can be made online at www.BarryRun.com/aoh.
McGrath's run, all things going well, will conclude on day nine, Saturday, July 28, with a final leg from the Annapolis Hotel to what is formally known as the Commodore John Barry Gate at the academy.
