Go straight to main content
print this page

Marathon runner to take shirt off footballer’s back

20 February 2009 - 20 February 2009

One lucky entrant in this year’s Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon could literally get the shirt off the back of a top Premier League star!

And another could run off with the boots off his feet.


The Cystic Fibrosis Trust – official charity for the May Day Bank Holiday spectacular – is offering anyone entering any of the four Marathon events the chance to win a signed shirt and a pair of boots from Manchester United and Republic of Ireland defender John O’Shea.

The charity is calling on people across Northern Ireland to take part in the 2009 Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon on Monday 4 May and help ‘See Off CF’. And to encourage people to sign up, the charity is offering two great prizes.

The highest individual fundraiser will win O’Shea’s signed shirt - while anyone who raises more than £50 for the CF Trust will be entered into a draw to win a signed pair of his boots.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the UK’s most common life-threatening inherited disease, affecting more than 600 people in Northern Ireland. Sponsorship money raised by Belfast City Marathon participants will help fund research into treating and curing CF. It will also help provide support, advice and appropriate clinical care to the 8,000 babies, children and adults with Cystic Fibrosis in the United Kingdom as a whole.

“There are lots of different ways you can take part in the 2009 Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon,” pointed out Linda Alexander, Regional Fundraising Manager for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

“If you fancy a real challenge, there’s the traditional 26.2 mile route; but, for those who would prefer not to run the full distance, why not team up with a group of friends or colleagues and take part in the relay, open to teams of five people?

“There’s also the option of doing a marathon walk of either nine miles or the full marathon distance of 26.2 miles. Last, but not least, the three-mile fun run is open to all ages, although under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

“We hope lots of people will sign up and that local businesses support the event by putting in a team for the relay. Money raised by runners helps us fund our ground-breaking gene therapy research which hopes to stop CF from claiming so many young lives.