A standard marathon distance is 42.2km (26.2 miles).

One marathon is a serious undertaking, but Cork native Marisa Geary and her son Riain are running the equivalent of seven marathons between them to raise money for the charity that gave them their beloved family dog ‘Maisie’.

Maisie, a beautiful standard poodle, joined the Geary family 11 months ago.

Marisa’s son, Riain’s brother Louie has a rare syndrome called Kabuki Syndrome. As a result, Louie has some physical disabilities and a visual impairment. Maisie was paired with Louie by Dogs for the Disabled and she will be going into formal training shortly to become Louie’s Stability Dog.

The dog means everything to the family: “With a stability dog, Louie will be able to walk independently of us safely, which will give him the independence he needs when he’s out and about,” says Marisa.

“Maisie came from a litter of 10 puppies. Each of those puppies will be trained to become Assistance Dogs for physically disabled children and adults. It costs Dogs for the Disabled €15,000 to raise, train and care for a dog over their lifetime.”

“The dogs are provided to disabled partners free of charge and they don’t receive any government funding.”

Marisa along with Ríain (12), have decided to challenge themselves to raise some money for Dogs for the Disabled to help them with their vital work. They plan to complete the equivalent of seven marathons between them, in seven weeks.

“As a family, we have been so privileged to have Maisie join us – she is just simply amazing and has been the most wonderful addition to our family, even before formal training. It has been a difficult year for everyone with the Covid-19 pandemic, but it has been especially hard for charities who have been unable to continue their normal fundraising efforts,” she added.

The pair have already smashed their €700 target, raising a whopping €2,000 and counting for the cause. If you would like to donate, you can find their GoFundMe page here.