Cork man in bid for marathon hurley-and-sliotar record

When it comes to long-distance running, Damien Coleman is about to prove he is no hurler on the ditch.

He is attempting to enter the Guinness Book of Records this weekend by running a marathon while soloing with a hurley and sliotar.

A native of Blackrock in Cork city, father-of-four Damien (33) is hoping to raise funds for both Cork Simon and his beloved Rockies GAA Club when he lines up at the start of the Cork City Marathon on Patrick Street on Bank Holiday Monday.

He got the idea two years ago of “putting a bit of a twist on things” when he decided to run a charity 5km while soloing with a hurley and sliotar and, after completing the race in 24 minutes, he began to wonder about trying to do the same while running a full marathon.

“I thought maybe we could enter a team in it and do the relay, but nobody else in the Rockies wanted to run five miles with a hurley and sliotar, so I said I would chance it myself and see how I get on,” said Damien, who admits he was more a Gaelic footballer than a hurler growing up.

“My aim is to keep the sliotar in contact with the hurley as much as I can, but there are times when I am going to have to hop the ball so I can look up and see where I’m going – my big concern is my neck and upper back because of my posture while I am running.

"I've done seven marathons, including two I finished in 2.59 – I've set myself a target of doing 10-minute miles, which works out at around 4½ hours, which would be good, and the aim is to try and get into the Guinness Book of Records for running a marathon with a hurley and sliotar."

Record attempt

To help verify his record attempt, Coleman has recruited some clubmates from Blackrock to film and photograph him on the route. He is hoping that he doesn’t drop the sliotar too often as that would involve having to retrace his steps.

“One of the lads joked that if I drop the sliotar I would have to go back to the very start, but the rules are such that I go back to the point where I dropped the sliotar and start from there again. Hopefully it won’t happen too often as the marathon is long enough as it is.”

Damien is just one of almost 10,000 runners taking to the streets of Cork on Monday for what is now the tenth Cork City Marathon.

Anyone wishing to support him in his efforts to raise funds for Cork Simon and Blackrock GAA can do so by going to: https://www.gofundme.com/hurlingworldrecord