Offaly journalist's charity run raises over £100,000

by Kevin O'Neill

Birr native and well-known sports journalist Barry Glendenning has raised over £100,000 for charity after completing the 2026 London Landmarks half-marathon.

The 53-year-old, who admitted before the race that he had "not run properly for 15 years" undertook the challenge after it was proposed to him, on-air, by fellow broadcaster Max Rushden on The Guardian Football Weekly podcast.

The Offaly man's initial aim was to raise just over £25,000 towards Great Ormond Street Hospital children's charity but thanks to more than 4,000 donations from the public he far exceeded that target.

Speaking about his athletic exploits, Glendenning described the race as "simultaneously one of the most unpleasant and pleasant days of my life".

"It was horrific. But the good news is that I made it to the end in 2 hours 46 minutes," he said on his JustGiving fundraising page.

"I had originally set what I thought was a rather ambitious target of £13,100, which is a thousand pounds per mile, but thanks to the generosity of the audiences of the Guardian Football Weekly podcast and TalkSport, I only went and reached it in a fortnight.

"With that in mind, I decided to double my original target to £26,200. I am genuinely humbled by the generosity," Glendenning said.

"I would like to thank every single person who has donated and the wonderful cause that is Great Ormond Street Children's Charity from the bottom of my heart.

"Obviously, I did all the work and hated every second of it, but collectively we have raised an astonishing amount of money and for that I am extremely grateful," he added.