Former Cookstown High School headboy runs 31 charity marathons in 31 days

A Cookstown born vet has finished 31 charity marathons in 31 days from John O’Groats to Lands End, completing the challenge on his 50th birthday.
Brian Faulkner.Brian Faulkner.
Brian Faulkner.

Brian Faulkner, a former head boy at Cookstown High School, has so far raised more than £18,000 for StreetVet which provides care for animals of homeless people - a problem made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Raised on Maloon Farm on the Orritor Road, he is now based in Suffolk, East Anglia, with wife Georgia and children Freya (16) and Seth (14).

He covered most of the 800 miles-plus on a mixture of roads, paths and cycling routes by himself, although his mum May and sister Gillian came over from Cookstown to support him during the first week of the challenge.

Brian, who cycled the route in 2012, stayed in B&B’s and at houses of friends, spending six or seven hours each day on the road.

He said the idea came from former English cricketer Ian Botham’s 1985 charity walk over the same route.

Brian took up running only a few years ago and ran in the London Marathon in 2016, telling himself as he crossed the finishing line he would never do anything like it again.

However, he was persuaded to do 10 Marathons in 10 days the following year, including a visit to Cookstown where he completed 26.2 miles, and raised £120,000 for Action for Working Horses and Donkeys charity.

He had planned to do John O’Groats to Land End back in May but had to call it off due to Covid-19.

He admitted to feeling a bit tired after completing the run on August 31, but said “it’s not as bad as people think”.

“I felt a bit washed out like recovering from a flu, but every day I felt better,” he said.

Apart from suffering a “massive blister” which forced him to walk for three days, everything went very well.

“I was lucky. I took it steady, not trying to be too smart.”

He continued: “I likened it to a day’s work. I grew up on a farm and you worked from eight until six o’clock. It’s physical work you just keep going until the work is done. There are people who work harder every day.”

Brian was battered by Storm Ellen one week and then Storm Francis the following week, which soaked him and made navigating on his mobile phone extremely difficult in the heavy rain.

He has no future challenges in mind at the moment - “the wife would kill me” - but he says he certainly won’t be doing John O’Groats to Lands End again.

Brian will be focusing on his work for the forseeable future having recently opened his fifth veterinary practice in Suffolk.

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