Every lock, every bridge of the 114km-long Grand Canal Way is awash with history, walker PJ McLaughlin tells Arminta Wallace

The walk

PJ McLaughlin of the Grand Canal Runners and Walkers Group has been running - and walking - along the canal for 16 years, raising more than 385,000 for Tullamore General Hospital in the process.

"The great thing about walking along the Grand Canal is that you can do as little or as much as you want. From Tullamore east towards Dublin, there's a bus service all along the route - so if you get a bus timetable, you can plan ahead.

For a short walk you could go from Tullamore to the Round House, a six-mile stretch that is absolutely fabulous because you're passing Shra Castle and Ballycowan Castle. If you want to go a longer distance you could tramp along from Edenderry up into the Bog of Allen. Every section of the canal has a bit of history - every lock and every bridge - and the tranquillity is unbelievable. It's so relaxed. It's just nature and yourself.

"When we first started running on the canal in 1991, there was very little maintenance of towpaths, but over the years all the grass has been cut and now there's no part of the Grand Canal that you can't travel in comfort. For many years, people in small towns looked at the canal with its hump-backed bridges as a bloody nuisance. Now everybody is aware of why it was built - and what it meant for us in this part of the country. In the early 1700s there was nothing here in the midlands except bogs and rough tracks. When the canal came in 1798, all of a sudden you had boats plying 70 tonnes of goods, which opened up the country all the way down to Limerick.

"On some of the bridges you can still see the marks where, when the boats were horse-drawn, the ropes rubbed against the stone. And there are all kinds of stories about the boatmen. All the Guinness was carried from Dublin down to Shannon Harbour in wooden barrels. So they'd pull in and 'cap the barrel'. That means bore two little holes in it, take a gallon or two out of each and have a right old time. So combine all those stories with the beautiful countryside the canal passes through, and you can really relax on these walks and enjoy the flowers and trees along the banks.

I've trekked all over the world raising money for charity, but there's one place I'll always return to when I want a bit of peace and quiet, and that's along the banks of the canal. It always makes me feel good."

For further information on the Grand Canal Way, see www.walkireland.ie

How did you get into walking?

It's more a case of, how did I get out of running? I'm a member of Tullamore Harriers Athletic Club and have done all the marathons - Dublin, London, Boston. But walking is so different. You're much more aware of your surroundings - and you have time to stop and appreciate them.

How regularly do you walk?

I train five times a week, between power walking, running and the gym.

What's the longest walk you've ever done?

Fifty miles. That would be from the 12th lock back to Tullamore. It takes nine hours to run it and about 15 hours to walk.

The most magical walk you've ever done?

Of all the places I've been in the world, I'd have to say that Vietnam is something special.

And the most miserable?

With the rain we've had over the past three months, I've endured a few really miserable ones. I mean, we're used to rain in Ireland, and it never bothered me before. But when you're continuously wet, when there's water running down the back of your neck and, even worse still, when it's very, very cold . . .