"Ireland's Forrest Gump", Tony Mangan, returned home to emotional scenes this weekend as he arrived at Dublin Port.
Mangan has been running around the world since 2010, and has covered nearly 50,000 km on foot, being dubbed the Irish Forrest Gump in the process. He returned to Dublin this past Saturday to be greeted by a crowd of over 50 well-wishers and family, and was overcome with emotion when he finally got his feet back on the auld sod.
According to The Irish Examiner, Mangan has been across 41 countries (and six deserts!) in his incredible journey, and there are now just a few relatively short kilometres left, as he plans to take on the Dublin Marathon as the final step. Before that, however, he will take on a further 1,600km across 45 days here in Ireland, and hopes that people will come out to join him along the way.
Mangan used to be a construction worker, but using some of the money he got as a redundancy payment, he set off around the world and now has a slew of records to his name, including a new record for running from Melbourne to Darwin.
It's an amazing feat, but it was not without its troubles, as he suffered from dehydration and various injuries along the way. He was clearly happy to be back on home soil, and his first priority was to head to the nearest truckstop to the port for a quick Full Irish before heading off again. It's the simple things you miss, sure...
