James Story
Last year was our first year to do the Dublin Mountains Challenge for Barretstown and four of us completed the 24k circuit. I had been involved in fundraising for Barretstown through my work because they had been our corporate charity partner for a few years. I had been lucky enough to experience what a magical place the camp is and see first-hand how the funds raised go straight back into the camp facilities.
I wanted to continue doing something for Barretstown and we love hiking so when I heard about the challenge I was up for it straight away. I roped in my husband Eoin and his brother Neil and our friend Mike to make up a team. The sun shone all day and we had a fantastic walk through the mountains. The whole set up of the day was great, from the warm up dancing at the start, plenty of refreshment stops and hot bowls of stew at the end (and even a veggie option!). This year we’re all coming back and this time we’re doing the 42k. We’ve already signed up my brother and my Dad who’s 73!