{"id":33851,"date":"2024-10-30T14:24:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T14:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/?p=33851"},"modified":"2024-10-30T14:24:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T14:24:35","slug":"mikes-marathon-cycle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/","title":{"rendered":"Marathon Cycle from Connemara to the Cairngorms"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the wilds of Ireland\u2019s west coast to the spectacular Cairngorms of the Scottish Highlands, marketing executive Mike Last certainly made 2024 a year of travel to remember.<\/p>

The 61-year-old cycled an amazing 1,550 miles from the top to toe of both the United Kingdom and of Ireland in a matter of weeks \u2013 and succeeded in raising close to \u00a31,600 to support for Self Help Africa, into the bargain!<\/p>

Incredibly, Mike took up cycling as a hobby just four years ago, but he says that planning his amazing cycling adventure across Ireland and the UK had been underway for over a year ago.<\/p>

\u201cI wanted to set myself a challenge for my 61st<\/sup> year and reasoned that a trip like this probably wasn\u2019t going to be something I\u2019d take on when a was 71,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve always played sport and kept fit, but nonetheless I needed to train consistently and build up both distance and hills closer to the event. Without this approach, I’m not sure I’d have had either the stamina or the belief to complete it.\u201d<\/p>

The marathon trip took him a total of 16 days at an average distance of between 16-17 miles per hour, and amongst the highlights were the wilds of Connemara, Donegal and the Gap of Dunloe in Ireland, as well as the trip through the Cairngorms National Park and The Lecht region of the Scottish Highlands.<\/p>

A dad of two who works with an Africa-based telecommunications infrastructure company, Mike says that he chose to support Self Help Africa because he wanted to support the work of an African focussed organisation, and he also loved the organisation\u2019s ethos of empowering and enabling rural communities.<\/p>

You can still contribute to Mike\u2019s fundraising efforts, and read more about his trip at: <\/p>

https:\/\/www.justgiving.com\/page\/mikelast1963<\/a><\/p>

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marketing executive Mike Last completed a marathon cycle for Self Help Africa.<\/p>\n Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":33852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1172,637],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fundraising","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMike's Marathon Cycle from Connemara to the Cairngorms<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Marketing executive Mike Last completed a marathon 1,550 mile cycle in Ireland and the UK to support Self Help Africa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marathon Cycle from Connemara to the Cairngorms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Marketing executive Mike Last completed a marathon 1,550 mile cycle in Ireland and the UK to support Self Help Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Self Help Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-30T14:24:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-30T14:24:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/10\/mikelast.cycle_.main_.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"588\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Self Help Africa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@comms\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@selfhelpafrica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Self Help Africa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Self Help Africa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/ef27df5dc9e961797418d7a8bf315404\"},\"headline\":\"Marathon Cycle from Connemara to the Cairngorms\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-30T14:24:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-30T14:24:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/\"},\"wordCount\":314,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/10\/mikelast.cycle_.main_.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Fundraising\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/\",\"name\":\"Mike's Marathon Cycle from Connemara to the Cairngorms\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/10\/mikelast.cycle_.main_.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-30T14:24:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-30T14:24:35+00:00\",\"description\":\"Marketing executive Mike Last completed a marathon 1,550 mile cycle in Ireland and the UK to support Self Help Africa\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/10\/mikelast.cycle_.main_.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/10\/mikelast.cycle_.main_.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":588},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Marathon Cycle from Connemara to the Cairngorms\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/\",\"name\":\"Self Help Africa\",\"description\":\"Farming for Africa's Future\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Self Help Africa\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/12\/SHA_Logo_high-res.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/12\/SHA_Logo_high-res.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":435,\"caption\":\"Self Help Africa\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/selfhelpafrica\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/selfhelpafrica\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/selfhelpafrica\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SelfHelpAfricaTV\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/ef27df5dc9e961797418d7a8bf315404\",\"name\":\"Self Help Africa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c9cea5aafedafdfd7b6582fe5e728d3a4b558376ab9694c1bef5daadfa137a7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c9cea5aafedafdfd7b6582fe5e728d3a4b558376ab9694c1bef5daadfa137a7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Self Help Africa\"},\"sameAs\":[\"Eoghan Carroll\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/comms\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mike's Marathon Cycle from Connemara to the Cairngorms","description":"Marketing executive Mike Last completed a marathon 1,550 mile cycle in Ireland and the UK to support Self Help Africa","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Marathon Cycle from Connemara to the Cairngorms","og_description":"Marketing executive Mike Last completed a marathon 1,550 mile cycle in Ireland and the UK to support Self Help Africa","og_url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/","og_site_name":"Self Help Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/","article_published_time":"2024-10-30T14:24:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-30T14:24:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":588,"url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/10\/mikelast.cycle_.main_.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Self Help Africa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@comms","twitter_site":"@selfhelpafrica","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Self Help Africa","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/"},"author":{"name":"Self Help Africa","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/ef27df5dc9e961797418d7a8bf315404"},"headline":"Marathon Cycle from Connemara to the Cairngorms","datePublished":"2024-10-30T14:24:21+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-30T14:24:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/"},"wordCount":314,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/10\/mikelast.cycle_.main_.jpg","articleSection":["Fundraising","News"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/","name":"Mike's Marathon Cycle from Connemara to the Cairngorms","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/10\/mikelast.cycle_.main_.jpg","datePublished":"2024-10-30T14:24:21+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-30T14:24:35+00:00","description":"Marketing executive Mike Last completed a marathon 1,550 mile cycle in Ireland and the UK to support Self Help Africa","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/10\/mikelast.cycle_.main_.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/10\/mikelast.cycle_.main_.jpg","width":1100,"height":588},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/mikes-marathon-cycle\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Marathon Cycle from Connemara to the Cairngorms"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#website","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/","name":"Self Help Africa","description":"Farming for Africa's Future","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization","name":"Self Help Africa","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/12\/SHA_Logo_high-res.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/12\/SHA_Logo_high-res.jpg","width":1200,"height":435,"caption":"Self Help Africa"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/","https:\/\/x.com\/selfhelpafrica","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/selfhelpafrica\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/selfhelpafrica\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SelfHelpAfricaTV"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/ef27df5dc9e961797418d7a8bf315404","name":"Self Help Africa","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c9cea5aafedafdfd7b6582fe5e728d3a4b558376ab9694c1bef5daadfa137a7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c9cea5aafedafdfd7b6582fe5e728d3a4b558376ab9694c1bef5daadfa137a7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Self Help Africa"},"sameAs":["Eoghan Carroll","https:\/\/x.com\/comms"]}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2025-08-30 12:36:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33853,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33851\/revisions\/33853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}