MY MARATHON - PETER CANAVAN:"I CROSSED the finish line in four hours and 50 minutes, or thereabouts. My first thought at that point was relief to have made it. I had no idea beforehand just how tough it would actually be, to be honest. It was definitely a very difficult run, and I was so relieved just to have made it through.
"I also realised that not only do you need to be physically strong to complete the marathon, but mentally strong too. It's a long time to be out there. It also changed my opinion of all the people who have done a marathon before. It's certainly a tough sport, and the guys that can do in two hours and eight or nine minutes are something else, because that is some achievement.
"The conditions on the course were absolutely perfect. It was dry, and the rain held off and that certainly helped a lot. The way it transpired it was myself and three others running in the group and we all ended up staying together for the whole course, and that was a great help as well, to have somebody else there with you, dragging you along with them.
"I can't say it was a whole lot of fun, however. You do get a great sense of fulfilment out of it, knowing that there aren't that many people who have done it before or maybe think that it's something anybody can do. I know now that's certainly not the case. You do have to put in the miles beforehand, and I think anyone that saw my face after 15 or 16 miles would have been wondering would I make it through.
"The last seven or eight miles were definitely cruel, to say the least, but the sense of achievement at the finish of actually doing it helps makes up for it.
"I would definitely do another marathon in the future, but only say as part of a relay, because I couldn't see myself going through that again. It was such hard work to be honest. But then I probably didn't do the sort of miles beforehand that I should have. The furthest I'd run before was around 15 miles.
"But I'll certainly enjoy this one for a while. I headed back to Tyrone afterwards in a minibus with a group of students from the school who have been involved in the fundraising as well, and at that stage the only thing I was looking forward to next was a bite to eat."
Peter Canavan captained the Tyrone football team to the 2003 All-Ireland title. Yesterday he set out to complete his first marathon in Dublin to help raise funds for the Spirit of Paul McGirr Charity, which was set up last year in memory of the young Tyrone footballer who died in a game-related accident in 1997. The group aims to raise funds to support communities in Lusaka, Zambia, where training programmes are run to help the younger generations gain skills such as bricklaying and farming.
For further information see: www.thespiritofpaulmcgirr.com
Ian O'Riordan spoke to Peter Canavan