It’s been a long time coming but on Monday 31st of October 2011 former Saw Doctors drummer Johnny Donnelly will finally hang up his running shoes after completing his 64th marathon in 4 years. His remarkable feat has raised over €50,000 for Seachange foundation but the musician says that the Dublin marathon was the last of his running career.

‘I set myself the challenge when my youngest son Harry was born. He was sick and there were a few times that my wife Aisling, and I thought he wasn’t going to make it. That changed my whole outlook on things, because when you have a sick child, you put a real value on life’ he explained.

‘So I decided to make myself do something that I really didn’t want to do. I left the Saw Doctors because I didn’t like being away from my young family and that was the hardest part of all. I have four children and I’ve missed birthdays and big family occasions over the past four years and that has been tough.’

His most testing task to date was the infamous Marathon des Sables which saw him complete which saw him complete a 253km six day race under the blistering Sahara sun.

‘I had blisters, infections, and even fainted in the heat but being away from family so many times was the hardest’.

‘I never thought of myself as a great drummer or a great marathon runner, but I love to take up a challenge and trying to improve myself. I’m very proud of the difference we’ve made to peoples lives’ he said.

On behalf of all at Seachange just to say a big thank you to Johnny for creating awareness and funding of microcredit projects for our partners Fonkoze in Haiti and Jamii Bora in Kenya.