A Gilford man is set to run Belfast Marathon in memory of his late mum following her untimely passing on race day last year.
Ryan Feeney, who describes himself as “a high functioning autistic man”, is a much valued member of incredABLE’s Heroes Plus team.
Set to take part in the Belfast City Marathon last year as part of the incredABLE relay team, Ryan sadly experienced an unimaginable tragedy on the morning of the event, when his mum Janice passed away unexpectedly.
After his mother’s death, just a mere hours before the marathon was to begin, understandably, Ryan had to pull out of the race to be with his family.
He had spent several months training for the marathon, with Ryan saying his mum was his “biggest cheerleader in life”.
Extremely proud of her son’s dedication to his training, Janice helped with his fundraising efforts and played a huge role in helping Ryan raise hundreds of pounds for incredABLE throughout his training journey.
After that day, Ryan vowed to take part the following year in memory of his “guiding light in life”. Mum-of-three Janice was an extremely gifted artist and former British Airways employee, who Ryan described as “selfless with an incredible sense of humour.”
With just under two months to go until Belfast Marathon on Sunday, May 3, instead of taking part in the relay race with his colleagues at incredABLE [which was Ryan’s plan last year] , this year he will be taking on the full 26.2mile run!
Using running as a way to channel his grief, Ryan has been clocking up the miles in training in determination to achieve his goal of finishing the marathon in his mum’s memory.
On life without his mum, Ryan said: “I am a high functioning autistic man. I lived with my mum every day until the day she died.
“It has been very hard to transition into being a fully independent person, and things got really low around August of last year,” he admitted.
“I am using the marathon to raise money for incredABLE, and to say a proper goodbye to mum for the one-year anniversary of her death. This has been a really positive thing for me.
“incredABLE’s aim is to break down barriers for people with learning, intellectual disabilities and or autism, and I love being able to help the next generation of neurodivergent young people.”
Ryan is aiming to raise over £2’000 for incredABLE. If you would like to sponsor his Belfast Marathon challenge, click here.
