My Country Living: I'm running three marathons in wellies

Last year, Kenny Little took part in his first ever marathon. Building on from that success, the Aughnacloy native has set himself a new challenge; to complete three marathons this year within the space of six months. He will be raising money for three different charities and the funds raised will be divided equally between them.

Deciding to run the marathons in farming attire, a bright pair of yellow wellies and a boilersuit, adds another twist to this incredible story as Kenny prepares for one of his biggest challenges.

When he is not running, of course, Kenny is a beef and sheep farmer who also provides farm relief, hoof trimming and freeze branding.

Helping others and giving back to those people who have influenced my life, that’s why I’m doing the three marathons

“My first marathon was in Belfast. I did it for a local family who live beside us. Their wee girl has brittle bones disease, so I did it for the Brittle Bone Society. Someone had mentioned to me about doing a marathon to raise money and that is how I got up and going.

“Helping others and giving back to those people who have influenced my life, that’s why I’m doing the three marathons, and to raise money for the different charities. The first marathon I’ll be doing is the Belfast Marathon, which is taking place on 5 May, then there’s the Edinburgh Marathon on 25 May and the Dublin one is in October.”

Charities

“I’m raising money for Parkinson’s UK. My father was recently diagnosed with the disease and is in the early stages of it. The charity provides information and support for those affected by Parkinson’s disease.

“The second charity is Harry’s Mates, which my brother founded. It’s a social club for adults with learning disabilities and is based in Ballynahinch, Co Down. The charity is named after our uncle Harry who has special needs and the idea behind it is to help people in more rural areas to socialise and make friends.

“The third charity I have chosen is Yellow Wellies (The Farm Safety Foundation). I chose this charity in memory of a dear friend of mine, Walter Elliott OBE, who died back in March last year. I grew up on his farm and my father worked for him for 40 years, so he was like a second father to me. He was passionate about farming and was a former president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union.

"Yellow Wellies has developed unique farm safety training and is delivered in colleges and universities. It is being rolled out in Young Farmers’ Clubs Ulster this year by YFCU.

"Through national campaigns such as Farm Safety Week, Yellow Wellies and Mind Your Head, the Farm Safety Foundation is constantly tackling the stigma around risk-taking and poor mental health, ensuring that that next generation of farmers is resilient and equipped with smart strategies and specific skills to live and farm well. That’s why this charity is so important to me, to support the health and wellbeing of the farming community.

“I saw another fella had done a marathon over in England in wellingtons and I thought: ‘Well I’m running in wellingtons everyday so if he can do it, I’ll give it a go!’ Everyone is telling me: ‘Your feet will be wrecked.’ I don’t want to think about it.

"My wee boy Bobby laughs at the yellow wellies, he likes to come out and have a run around the yard. He is farming mad, and if he’s not outside he has to be watching Grassmen or FarmFLiX.

“The boilersuit is a way of getting more sponsorship. I will put the charity logos on the back of it so it will be good advertising for them too.

“At night I run the roads and build up the mileage. When you’re coming in in the evenings and the fire is on and you’re looking out into the rain, it can be hard, but once you get out and get going it’s not too bad. You would get an odd look from boys going past and seeing these yellow wellies – they’re probably thinking: ‘This boy is not wise.’ They’re probably not far wrong!

“The only two things I’m worried about is if my feet will stick it and that two of the marathons are very close together, but I can have a bit of a rest for the third one. Doing the Belfast Marathon last year, I reached the 17th, 18th mile, and thought to myself: ‘If I could get sitting down here somewhere I’d give up.’ But then you think about what you’re doing it for and it gets you motivated again, people drive you on and it’s the whole atmosphere. If I was to leave here and run 26 miles I couldn’t do it.”

“I am hoping to hold a BBQ and auction in June or July as part of the fundraising. I am looking for fundraising from different companies. They can donate money or products for the auction. My family and friends are all doing their bit. You definitely need their help to get everything organised. Trying to get everything ready and then farming at the same time is not easy, and I’m trying to get a website set up where people can donate online.

“I am going to raise as much money as I can and if anyone would like to donate they can contact me directly by mobile or through Facebook. Everything counts.”

If you would like to get in touch with Kenny and donate, contact him on 0044(0)751-7713-405 or find him on Facebook.