Cllr O’Neill battled gale force winds to complete the half marathon in 1 hour 50 minutes, beating his goal of two hours, and raising a fantastic amount for Beating Bowel Cancer in the process.
It’s not the first time the Scillies Councillor and owner of Dibble and Grub and The Deli on St Mary’s has run for charity – he also raised more than £1,000 for ShelterBox by completing the British 10K in June.
Cllr O’Neill said: “I’m really grateful to everyone who has sponsored me and donated money to the charities I’ve been running for, and also to the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company who have been helping me out with travel from St Mary’s to Land’s End on Skybus, which enables me to put every penny I raise towards a good cause.
“The Norwich half marathon was tough – one of the professional runners there said the conditions made it the hardest half marathon she’d ever run – but it hasn’t put me off and now I’m training hard to get ready for my first full marathon in Paris next April.”
When he takes on the Paris marathon in April 2012, Cllr O’Neill, who only started running earlier this year, will be running for SANDS, a charity for still-born and neo-natal death support.
Jackie Hayman, Marketing Manager for the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company said: “We were very happy to be able to help Gaz with his travel arrangements to enable him to take part in the City of Norwich Half Marathon, and we hope to do the same when he takes on the even bigger challenge of the Paris marathon next year.”
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