THIS brave Lucan lad is taking part in the Dublin Marathon later this year.
James Casserly (10) will participate in the SSE Airtricity event for Barretstown, the charity for seriously ill children, on October 30.
James, who has cerebral palsy and juvenile arthritis, will be at the starting line up in an assisted chair as part of Team James.
Mark Lacey, James’s coach, will participate in the race alongside him. The pair have been training for months ahead of the October marathon and have raised much needed funds for Barretstown in the process.
Speaking about his participation and the reasons for choosing Barretstown as the benefitting charity, James said it was because it was such a special and magical place.
“I’m really excited to be taking on this challenge to give something back to the charity that helped me so much last year,” he said. “The training has been really enjoyable and Mark has been there with me the whole way. I can’t wait now to compete in October.”
James’s coach Mark added that training has been going really well and they were building up to the big day.
“We do rehab and strength training in Insanity Fitzone in Palmerston every week and we also train every Sunday in the Phoenix Park from 10am,” Mark said. “So if anyone would like to join us they are more than welcome. If you want to follow our journey you can check out www.teamjamesdublin.com or follow us on Facebook.”
Dee Ahearn, the CEO of Barretstown, said they were thrilled to be chosen as James’s charity.
“James has spent time with us here at camp and has experienced the magic it brings to children who have lost some of their childhood due to serious illness,” Dee said. “The bravery and enthusiasm he has shown in talking on the marathon as a challenge is phenomenal and we wish him the very best of luck in his training over the coming months and for the big race itself in October.”
Vicky, James’s mum, added: “It’s tremendous the level of support we have gotten so far. We knew our local community in Lucan would get involved and support us but it has reached way beyond that. It has been a great experience for James and it started with his trip to Barretstown. The power of positivity that Barretstown has given James is incredible. I’m very proud of what we have achieved so far and if you could pick two people who will complete this marathon it would be James and Mark.”
The SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon has also been hugely supportive of James and his team. Eugene Coppinger, Director at SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon, said: “We are delighted to support James Cas-serly on his quest to complete the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon in an assisted chair. Every year people participate in the marathon to raise money for charities across the country including Barretstown. James has been training non-stop for this event and with four months to go we’re looking forward to cheering him on as he crosses the line for Barretstown.”
The annual fundraising target for Barretstown is €4.8million and it’s through fundraising like this that Barretstown can expand its services. The charity’s aims over the coming years are to extend camps to cater for more illness groups, expand the camp calendar right through the winter months and most importantly, reduce the waiting lists so more children like James can experience the Barretstown magic.
If you would like to participate in the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon on behalf of Barretstown visit the website https://www.barretstown.org/events/sse-airtricity-dublin-marathon/ or the Facebook page www.facebook.com/Barretstown
Barretstown has helped over 35,000 seriously ill children and their family members since 1994.
To find out more visit www.barretstown.org, follow @Barretstown on Twitter or visit www.facebook.com/Barretstown
