A CONTINGENT of Kilburn Gaels hurlers have smashed their fundraising target after completing a 390-mile charity cycle in honour of a former team-mate.
Former Gaels hurler Cathal Forde, who won a London Senior Hurling title with Kilburn in 2010, died of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) during a training session in Highgate, aged 28, in April 2012.
Forde hailed from Gort, the final destination for the 14-man panel who cycled from Highgate, London, to the Co. Galway town, with all proceeds going to The Cormac Trust and MS Ireland, two charities close to the heart of Forde’s friends and family.
The panel are pictured in Wales, around 10 miles outside of Bangor, on the way to Holyhead on the second day of their journey, which they completed on Sunday.
The hurlers raised £21,366 and were aided by exposure on the Sunday Game on RTE, while they also made the big screens in Croke Park during Mayo's 3-15 to 1-14 win over Westmeath.
“We got a marvellous reception in Gort, we couldn’t get over it, there were crowds out in the street and everything,” Kilburn PRO Robbie Stakelum told The Irish Post.
“We were lucky with the weather and we picked up a few riders from cycling clubs along the way, so there was a right crowd of us by the time we got to Gort.
“We had only one fall, three riders went down just outside Athlone, they were grand though, nothing a few pints didn’t take care of.
“Frank Keating spoke very well at the reception, as did Liam Forde, it was very emotional, but the whole thing was a very big success.”
