Former PE teacher in UAE completes seven marathons in a week

Hollie Murphy focused on raising awareness in the emirates to include people with special needs in sports

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  Hollie's passion to make sports inclusive helped power her through the demanding route, which covered almost 300 kilometres. Courtesy, Heroes of Hope

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  Hollie Murphy finished her endurance race of seven marathons in seven days across seven emirates on Friday. Courtesy: Heroes of Hope

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  Hollie Murphy with one of the athletes with special needs she coaches as part of the group she founded called Heroes of Hope. Courtesy: Heroes of Hope

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  Hollie Murphy, founder of Heroes of Hope, has run seven marathons in seven emirates over seven days in the UAE. Courtesy: Heroes of Hope

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  Hollie Murphy coaches people with special needs in various sporting activities and is an advocate for inclusive community events. She ran seven marathons over seven days across seven emirates this week. Courtesy: Heroes of Hope

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  Hollie Murphy has completed seven marathons in seven days across seven emirates to raise awareness about the need to include people with special needs in sports. The inclusion advocate and former PE teacher, hopes to break down barriers in society by including people with disabilities in all mainstream sporting events. Courtesy: Heroes of Hope

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  Hollie Murphy, an inclusion advocate and former PE teacher, ran seven marathons in seven days across seven emirates. Courtesy: Heroes of Hope

A former PE teacher in the UAE on Friday successfully completed the last of seven marathons over seven days, across the seven emirates.

Hollie Murphy took on the challenge to raise awareness of the importance of encouraging people with disabilities to take part in sports.

She said her passion to make sports inclusive helped power her through the demanding route, which covered almost 300 kilometres.

"I tried to block out the physical pain and keep on moving," said Ms Murphy, founder of Heroes of Hope, a non-profit group that organises sporting events for people with disabilities.

I'm so excited about running. I want to be with Hollie. I want to be strong. She makes me strong

“When the adrenalin of the marathon wears off, you feel your body start to stiffen up.

"There is knee pain, tightness, strain through my calf, blisters – but I just kept my head focused on the purpose of why we are doing this.”

Ms Murphy raised funds for the Al Jalila Foundation and Heroes of Hope during the endurance test, while spreading awareness of her cause.

She is keen to build on the legacy of the 2019 Special Olympics hosted in Abu Dhabi, which encouraged the participation of people with developmental, intellectual and physical disabilities, to break down barriers in society.

A long, exhausting week

Hollie Murphy finished her endurance run of seven marathons in seven days across seven emirates on Friday. Courtesy: Heroes of Hope

Ms Murphy, 34, launched the challenge last Saturday in Abu Dhabi and finished the final marathon at Palm Jumeirah in Dubai on Friday.

Setting out at about 5am daily, she clocked a steady time of about four hours for each of the 42-kilometre distances.

Exhausted but delighted, Ms Murphy said she felt blessed to see young athletes and their families show their support by running with her, or cheering as they followed in cars.

"When you see the families clapping their hands and cheering you on, that's the purpose of the marathon," the Dubliner said.

“That is your mental push, that’s the objective of what we are trying to achieve.”

Dinal Ekanayake, 14, a Sri Lankan athlete with the Heroes group, was thrilled to run 5km with his coach on Friday.

"I'm so excited about running. I want to be with Hollie. I want to be strong. She makes me strong," he said.

Daily sports activities with Ms Murphy help him to deal with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and mild autism.

Other sporting enthusiasts also pounded the roads to mark their commitment to the cause.

Hollie's passion to make sports inclusive helped power her through the demanding route, which covered almost 300 kilometres. Courtesy, Heroes of Hope

Samantha Cadwallader, marketing manager of RCS sports and events, ran a marathon with Ms Murphy in Ras Al Khaimah on Monday, and a half marathon on Friday.

Highlighting the toll just one rigorous run takes on an athlete’s body, Ms Cadwallader said Ms Murphy’s effort was an inspiration.

“It can take a month to recover after completing just one marathon, and the fact that she did seven back to back requires incredible mental strength to push through,” she said.

“You need to cope with the fatigue, the pressure you put your body through. Your muscles feel super stiff and you need to put your feet up and relax."

But Ms Murphy did not have time for that because she had to turn things around in 12 hours and get on the road for the next one.

“She is an incredible inspiration and I feel privileged to be a part of her journey to push for inclusion of people of determination in our mainstream races.”