Wexford man running across Ireland to raise funds for charity

A Wexford man has decided to challenge himself…

In a bid to raise vital funds for charity, a Wexford man has decided to run across Ireland.

Kacper Czerpak is an ultra-runner from Wexford and this is just another one of the challenges that he has tasked himself with, having done many similar challenges in the past.

The idea for the challenge came after some research. After looking at the distance, it was something that Kacper thought he would be able to do:

“The idea to run across Ireland came when I was looking for challenges to push myself and saw someone running across Ireland and I thought to myself this it the one, the run I want to do. Quickly I looked up the distance and calculated everything and boom 560km across Ireland,” he said.

It’s not solely about challenging himself though. He has reaped the rewards of exercise and he hopes that his story – and the challenge – may inspire others to take up running or get more exercise in too:

“The goal for this challenge is to inspire people to go out there and run even if it’s 5km. Running helped me lead a better and healthier lifestyle and also helped my mental health it can definitely help you,” he said

One of the biggest changes to his life due to running is his diet. It has an extremely positive impact on him. Although he did play football before, he has become more aware of his food and caleroie intake since taking up running.

“The biggest change to my life since I started running has to be my diet. Ever since I got into running, I have been more aware of what I eat and what not to eat as training couple of hours every day I can’t have a upset stomach or training will be so much harder. My life before running was pretty physical – I always played football. I used to train football couple of hours everyday and go to the gym. Not much has changed in terms of training just that I spent my time trying to be a better runner now than being a better footballer like before.”

His goal is to complete the run in approximately 7 days, which averages 80km a day. The run was actually meant to be starting next week, but he tells us that an injury has meant that he needed to postpone it:

“The run was postponed because I injured my hip and after thinking about it, I decided it’s best if I strengthen my hip and attempt the run in December when my injury has healed,” Kacper told Wexford Weekly.

For the run itself, it would be difficult to do without family support and Kacper, for one, is thankful that he will have some family and friends alongside him.

“I’m going to be renting my own campervan with my own money. I have asked my Dad and Uncle to take a couple of days off for the duration of the 7 days. Each one will be driving while I run and they will wait for me at the end where I finish, every 80km. There are two other people coming too, but they will be renting hotels and stuff. They are only there to document my run for a documentary about me,” he told Wexford Weekly.

With a long-distance run like this, one can imagine that it can be a daunting experience. But Kacper emphasises the fact that the hardest thing about doing it is simply starting it.

“The most challenging thing I find about long distance running is the start. The start is the hardest for me as all I want to do is quit; it’s like the first one hour or two of a ultra – I have no desire to run and honestly trying to get into a rhythm is hard. But once I get into it, then all that’s on my mind is win against my mind. Either win the race or just win in general. If I don’t let myself fail, I count that as a win,” he told us emphatically.

Although it can be challenging, there are not many better feelings in the world than when you finish and complete the goal you set for yourself. This is the same for Kacper, but he insists that the journey he undertakes is something he appreciates the most.

“When I complete something like this, I feel good. Being honest, I don’t chase the feeling of completing something big. Instead, I chase the journey. The journey is always going to feel better than the result. I love waking up everyday and trying for a certain goal and in this case -it’s the run across Ireland – but once I finish it I think about bigger goals and how I can achieve bigger things,” he said.

Wexford native Kacper will be doing it as part of a charity fundraiser. The charity that he decided to raise funds for is Pieta House, a Mental Health organisation that provides support for those impacted by suicide and those with suicidal thoughts.

He has set up a fundraiser for the run and so far, he says the support has been good:

“The support for this run is good; I got a couple of things for my run from a couple of small business in Wexford. The support overall has been great but the only thing that really matters is that I believe I can do this,” he said.

The fundraising target is set for €1,000. For those interested in donating to the fundraiser, you can check out the iDonate link here.