Enda O'Doherty, who is no stranger to grueling runs and has completed a few Ironmans in his time, undertook the mammoth task of trekking from Belfast to Waterford with a five-stone washing machine strapped to his back.
The school teacher tackled the feat in order to raise money for Pieta House, a cause that is clearly very close to his heart. O'Doherty teaches at De La Salle school in his native Waterford, which has lost two students to suicide in the past few years.
Speaking to The Examiner back in February, O'Doherty said that he wanted to find a way to raise money for the charity, and that the idea of the washing machine wasn't his, but rather his wife's: "I said to her that I intended to do a charity walk and immediately she told me that was far too easy, so I was like, 'Okay I’ll do it with a washing machine strapped to my back'."
The journey was longer than nine marathons, totaling 235 miles, and the washing machine symbolises something for him too, as he added that "the idea of the washing machine is that it carries a heavy load, and so do people who commit suicide, but at the end of the day the machine empties itself of the burden it is carrying and soldiers on. If more people could do that then perhaps we’d have less suicides."
Yesterday, he achieved the amazing feat as he arrived in Waterford, and had plenty of people supporting him along the route.
There's fundraising and then there's fundraising Enda O'Doherty-style @ChallengePieta - you made it, we salute you! pic.twitter.com/IIB1MrhRbN
— Pieta House (@PietaHouse) June 14, 2015
Enda O'Doherty has just passed Newrath and is heading into Waterford! His expected arrival is on the plaza at 5 p.m. pic.twitter.com/OQ4tClfMY0
— Beat 102 103 (@beat102103) June 14, 2015
Enda O Doherty & gang has walked from Belfast to Waterford with a washing machine on his back. In aid of pieta house pic.twitter.com/hLnEbE8MTZ
— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) June 14, 2015
Via The irish Examiner, The 42.ie. Main pic via Alan Patrick (Otto) Alpenfelt/Flickr