Having never run before, Declan Moroney signed up and spent months training for the iconic New York Marathon on November 6th 2022. Declan ran the marathon as part of his in memorial fundraising efforts to honour his Dad, Liam Moroney, who sadly passed away in November 2020.

“My Dad was diagnosed with Oesophageal Cancer in 2013. He got great support from the Oesophageal Cancer Fund and I want to try and raise funds to give something back. He had his oesophagus removed in a 6 hour operation which left him without a stomach which meant he had great difficulty eating enough to keep him nourished. He dropped to 6 stone 10lbs weight at one stage. He had to eat small amounts very often and indeed ate every night around 3 am to try and keep himself sustained. We used to laugh because he was attending a dietician to gain weight and I was at the same time attending a dietician to lose weight.”

Not content with only taking on the marathon, Declan also organised a whole programme of fundraising events in the run up to the marathon in his local Co. Clare. Declan was also interviewed by The Clare Champion & made an appearance on Clare FM, helping to raise awareness and garner support for his causes.

The Liam Moroney Memorial Tractor took place on Sunday October 16th and with Liam’s wife, Declan’s mother and friend of the Oesophageal Cancer Fund Carmel, taking the lead on tractor number 1 on the day! Raffle tickets were sold on the day with some amazing prizes to be won such as a trip to New York, a midlands staycation and €500 One4All Card amongst much more. The raffle draw took place in conjunction with another amazing event on Saturday October 29th – The World’s First Pub Marathon!

In the end, Declan amazingly completed the marathon in just over five hours despite nursing a knee injury. 

Thank you so much to Declan for all of your hard work and incredible awareness raising & fundraising. What an incredible tribute to your Dad Liam.