The 100km in 30 days community challenge was a local event taking place in my hometown of Blackrock, Co. Louth that this year was turned on its head, suddenly gaining national and international attention and involvement.
My cousin Niall’s wife Cara was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and thankfully she is now finished her treatment. The couple were eager to give something back to Breast Cancer Ireland, a charity that provided support to them through this difficult time. When they turned the 100km in 30 days challenge into a national fundraiser for Breast Cancer Ireland, I was eager to help in any way I could.
Once their plan was set in motion it progressed at lightning speed! 15,000 people from 37 countries signed up to take part and their initial target amount of €100,000 was starting to seem modest.
I introduced the idea to colleagues at Cubic and it was met with much enthusiasm. We banded together as a group, setting up a league and tracking our mileage over the month. Some completed the 100km in less than 2 weeks, others continued running and clocked up over 270km over the month. We’re a competitive bunch!
As we are all working from home it was an inventive way to share a common goal, even while apart. Good timing too, as COVID-19 lockdown restrictions had started to lift meaning we could travel a little further on our morning walks and runs. We documented our progress on our internal communications platform WorkVivo, encouraging each other to keep the momentum going.
The challenge captured the imagination of the nation during a lonely period for many and it was great to see people from all corners of the globe get involved and show support. My 85-year old Aunty Margaret even walked the 100km around her back garden while she was cocooning!
As a result of unprecedented support, €1.3M has been raised so far. Congrats Niall and Cara! I am proud to say that the Cubic Team contributed €8,000 of that, which was 160% of our initial €5K target.
This has been the single largest fundraiser for Breast Cancer Ireland to date. The money raised will fund a new 3D mammogram machine for the Mater Hospital, go towards a research bursary for the Royal College of Surgeons and be used for education and research.
I wholeheartedly thank my colleagues at Cubic for taking to the challenge with such energy. The power of teamwork knows no bounds! Across 59 staff members we collectively walked to our friends at Audi in Ingolstadt and back to Ireland again (4,800km!).
