Offaly woman completes marathon charity cycle in France

Ballycumber's June Robbins-Gilbert was recently among a total of 16 cyclists to recently complete an 840km trek from north-central France to Lourdes, in the south-west, to raise money for the Rise & Shine Trust (formerly the Irish Pilgrimage Trust).

The event takes place every two years and involves approximately 100 cyclists, plus support teams, from across Ireland taking on the challenge, which raises funds to bring children with additional needs to Lourdes at Easter. This year, over 600 children from around Ireland – along with assistants and medical carers - were taken to Lourdes for a week-long excursion.

Each cyclist must raise at least €3,000 for the cause (with 100 per cent going to the charity), while each cyclist pays their own way for flights, accommodation and food. The majority of the other participants from the midlands region were from the Athlone region and its surrounding areas.

Cormac Nott, who was taking part in his third Rise & Shine Trust cycle, said that the trip is never possible without the support of the people from the midlands.

“The fact it takes place every two years always allows us a bit more planning time for fundraising and every participant does it in their own way. We want to thank the public so much for its generosity,” said Cormac, who also highlighted the efforts of fellow cyclist Carmel Naughton, who has taken on the challenge since 1998.

The Keane family from Athlone (Michael, Francis, Bridget and Francis's son-in-law Kevin 'Gooch' Murray) have been cycling for years in memory their late brother, Anthony, who used to cycle it for many years. Between them alone, they raised over €12,000 for this year's event.

The cycle started at the cathedral in Chartres with a blessing from the Bishop of Chartres before the opening 100km trek to Orleans. From there, it was 125km to Tours and then onto Poitiers (113km cycle) and Angouleme (a further 143km). On day five, the group, which also included cyclists from counties such as Limerick and Kerry, embarked on a 111km journey to Libourne, in the southwest, before arriving in Mont de Marsan after another 138km cycle. The seventh and final leg of the journey took the cyclists from Mont de Marsan to Lourdes (110km, where they entered through the St Michael's Gate, the primary entrance to the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The full list of people who took part were: Martin Finucane, Richie O’Hara, Brendan Finnegan, Gerry McInerney, Alastair Gray, Alan MacNeice, Cormac Nott, June Robbins-Gilbert, Francis Keane, Kevin ‘Gooch’ Murray, Carmel Naughton, Michael Murtagh, Matt Harte, Ciaran Harte, Bridget Keane and Michael Keane.