The first time that IF caught up with Tom McGrath the catching up but was more metaphorical than literal. Tom was running a thousand miles for Sloan Kettering and doing so at the Reservoir in Central Park. This entailed day and night running on the tracks around the water, itself an endurance test due to sheer repetition.
Being younger and slimmer than is currently the case, IF had the bright idea of interviewing McGrath while running with him. Suffice it to say, McGrath, A Fermanagh native, had to slow down for the duration of the chat but the story was duly writ just as Tom's self-imposed writ was duly run.
Now, years and who knows how many miles and pairs of running shoes later, a still trim McGrath is readying himself for a run lasting a mere 250 miles. However, this adventure will not take place in an enclosed park but rather on the highways between New York and Annapolis, Maryland As previously reported, every step will be a calorie-burning donation to the effort by the Ancient Order of Hibernians to raise funds for a memorial - eight-foot-tall granite monument no less - at the U.S. Naval Academy in honor of Commodore John Barry, the navy's first flag officer.
Starting July 20, McGrath will set out from the door of his Manhattan hostelry, the Black Sheep, and run all the way to the newly erected and AOH-funded "Barry Gate" at the U.S. Naval Academy.
He will be making stops for more fundraisers along the way in Brooklyn, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Contributions to the memorial fund can be made online at www.BarryRun.com/aoh.
As it currently stands, IF is not planning an on-the-road interview. With luck, Tom will be carrying a cell phone for on-the-spot updates.
SELF HELP FEST
Africa is so far away but it will feel a lot closer on Stone Street in Manhattan next week with a street-festival to benefit Self Help Africa The festival starts on Tuesday July 10 starting at 5 p.m. and running until 11 p.m.
Brendan Farrell of XSP and IMMRAM, and Stone Street's own Ronan Downs are the initiators and key drivers behind the event. All the pubs on Stone St. are participating, as well as a wide coalition of Irish organizations including the IBO, IIBN, IN-NYC and IN-NJ.
"It's a truly collaborative effort from the Irish community to raise funds to help people in rural Africa who live on less than a dollar a day to lift themselves out of poverty," said the Irish-founded Self Help Africa in a statement.
