We've been longlisted

Stig for CF Ireland has been longlisted for the Irish Blog Awards. Thanks to Damien for continuing to organise these awards.

This is the third year we've made it to the long list stage. This blog has been nominated in the Best Specialist Blog category and faces stiff competition, not least of which comes from Piaras and Colm, if it is to make the shortlist for the first time ever. Thanks to everyone who has read and contributed to this blog including: Sinead and Blair who provided guest posts this year, Coilin Duffy and Ciaran Ruane who helped provide content including live blog coverage of the New York City marathon, John Healy who was our webmaster, and everyone that played a part in the numerous videos we made this year.

We'll let you know if the third time is the charm as soon as the nominations for the shortlist are out.

EDIT: Apparently the list published is not the long list as such so we'll have to wait and see if this blog post title is correct.

FURTHER EDIT: It turns out that while we don't know if it's longlisted, this is still formally considered a nomination so I've edited to included the above pic.

The final total: €4,750

Thank you, thank you, thank you. The final total of €4,750 raised is three times our previous best effort.You are all amazing and as a mark of gratitude here's the highlights from the big one. Ladies and gentlemen, video coverage of my participation in the New York City marathon with commentary by Cóilín Duffy.



Thanks to everyone who supported us in any way. I'd like to extend a personal thanks to John Craddock for his efforts in Dublin and to Cóilín for taking time out of his busy schedule to record the commentary for that video.

Like the video says, we'll have a new challenge in August 2009 and we'll be announcing details in March.

A round up of stuff

Hello one and all. We've been rather infrequent in our posting lately but we're making this post to let you all know that there's one more post this year that you will want to keep an eye out for.

Yes, I know, it's rather odd that I'm blogging to tell you to keep an eye out for a future blog post but I've some other tidbits as well so rather than have three or four one line posts we'll stick it all under a round up.

First off, our final video of the year is coming soon. I hope to have it up before Christmas. It depends on when some footage reaches us here in campaign HQ. We've already put together some of the audio and it promises to be a good one.

In other news, I know a few of you were asking about the 5k Jingle Bell Run in the Phoenix Park. It was meant to be my return to training but sadly my health got in the way. A nasty cold hit and I wisely thought it would be foolish to go for a run in that state on a cold Sunday morning. The new return to training shall now hopefully be at the GOAL mile on Christmas morning.

Plans are already in place for our 2009 campaign which is going to be a considerably different undertaking to anything we've previously tried. It'll be a few months however before we go into detail on that event. Needless to say it's going to be epic.

Finally on the news front, we'll be closing acceptance of donations on the 8th of January and will likely announce the final total on the 9th or 10th.

Of course I can't do a post at this stage in December without saying Merry Christmas to everyone.

Furthermore I'll be away in Cork from the 27th to around the 3rd or 4th (must check that) so if I don't see you between now and then have a Happy New Year.

Race photos now online

They're finally here, the photos from the big race. The pics here are just a taster of the full selection photos which are here.

We've decided to name the 8th of January as the final date for donations. If you want to support us you still can by going to our MyCharity page but remember time is running out.

We'll have our final video online shortly before the deadline, and hopefully this will include some actual race video coverage.

Congratulations JoePa

I'm a die-hard Notre Dame fan and I should be upset tonight. The Fighting Irish lost to the joke that is Syracuse but I can't help being happy for Joe Paterno and the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Paterno is 82 years old and in need of a hip replacement. Still, one of the most likeable men in College Football has pressed on as Penn State's head coach. Today, in one of the greatest feel good stories of the year (though not as much as the dude in the video linked in my last post) he saw his charges play a great game and hammer Michigan State to secure their first place in the Rose Bowl since 1995.

Congratulations JoePa. After all these years, you're still one of the best.

This is hardcore

The word hardcore gets bandied about a lot but this dude is something else. Having trouble embedding the video but it's well worth clicking on the link. A young runner picked up a ridiculously serious injury late in a 5k race which sent him crashing into the dirt. Unable to regain his footing, despite numerous attempts, he did the only sensible thing he could do, drag himself to the finish line.

A big thank you

It's just over 2 weeks since the race and I'm pretty much recovered. We haven't got the bulk of the photos yet but thanks to John Sheridan we can show you two from near the end.

Seeing as I'm thanking John for the pics I might as well take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped the campaign.

First off Comit Marketing deserve a particularly heavy dose of praise. The guys in there helped us secure a lot of the prizes for the draw and showed interest throughout the campaign. Likewise Heneghan PR were a great help in securing prizes for the draw and supporting the cause and we are very grateful to them.

Damovo, Strencom, Cable & Wireless, Motorola, the ESB (in particular Gerry McGough), Tipperary GAA and Dublin GAA (in particular John Costello) were all a great help in either donating or securing prizes for the draw and we are delighted they were able to support us. Thanks also to Paddy Power (in particular Michelle Daly) for providing odds on the race.

Running this campaign took a lot more than just one person. John Craddock made an immense contribution. On top of doing the Dublin marathon, John was also my training partner and the man that drove me to the Dublin 10 mile and half marathon races.

Ciaran Ruane, Fergal Casey and Cóilín Duffy all gave a great deal of support in help in our promotional effort. The trio, along with John, helped make so many of our videos possible. In that same respect, a big thanks to Lee Daly, Greg Bowler, Cian Ginty, Mary Dobbs, Gareth Murphy and Niall McClave for appearing in our videos.

Greg, John Sheridan, Kate Fitzgerald, and the whole DCU debating posse deserve a big heap of praise for their backing throughout the campaign. The DCU Saints also gave tremendous support all season long and that was a big help.

On the UCD side Sir Keith Thompson, who did the Great North Run, Eve Rowan, who is always there to support me, and a shedload of other people deserve a whole heap of praise. Nearish to UCD, Eoin Kennedy in Slattery Communications offered great encouragement over the last few months.

Martin Cahill, Grainne Kennedy, and all the guys in the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland helped a great deal both pre and post race.

Last but not least I want to thank everyone who has supported this cause in any way. Be you well wishers, people that bought tickets for the draw, or anyone else that donated, your help is thoroughly appreciated.

Oh and it's not over...you can still donate through our MyCharity.ie page. We'll keep taking donations for about another month before formally announcing our total either in late December or early 2009.