52 Marathons in 52 Weeks for the Pat Cronin Foundation

Hi all, my name is Ben Duffy and over the past few months I have decided that I will be tackling a running challenge over the course of 2025, to raise funds for the Pat Cronin Foundation.

After much thought and consultation with family, friends and members of the foundation, I settled on the goal of running 52 seperate marathons throughout 2025, with 100% of the proceeds raised, going directly to the Pat Cronin Foundation.

In 2016, Pat Cronin went out for a few quiet drinks with mates after playing his first senior football match alongside his big brother. He wasn’t a fighter, it just wasn’t his scene. But when a brawl started to build outside the pub, being the loyal and caring mate he was, Pat stepped in to pull a friend away. It was then that Pat was punched in the head from behind. He stayed on his feet, checking all his mates were ok, but soon after he started to develop symptoms, had a seizure and was taken to hospital unconscious.

Two days later, his parents made the agonising decision to turn off his life support.

Similarly to Pat, I completed my schooling at Whitefriars College, love my football, and above all, have a strong love for both my friends and family. Furthermore, I admire the strength of Pat's parents, Matt and Robyn, and the way they have carried themselves through such a tragic event. This made choosing a charity extremely simple.

Matt and Robyn, have done an incredible job to set up this foundation, to help illuminate the dangers attached to violence, with their overall goal being to end the coward punch.

Thank you for taking the time to give this a read. I will leave this page open for the entirety of 2025, any donation is immensely appreciated and will help aid this incredible foundation to continue their work and continually move closer to eliminating the coward punch all together.

Thank you, Ben.