Legendary Galway ultra distance runner Richard Donovan has reached the final stage of an amazing month long run from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast of South America, crossing 1800km through Argentina and Chile. Donovan arrived in Chile on Saturday courtesy of a police escort and temperatures of -10 degrees before he completed a 37-mile run on Sunday to reach Los Andes. Richard recounted his journey so far on his Facebook page:
"A recap of the journey so far from the Atlantic coast to Mendoza over the past few weeks. I will now be following the historic route into the Andes of the Chilean independence leader Bernardo O'Higgins whose father was born in Sligo. O'Higgins freed Chile from Spanish rule and fought with Argentinian general San Martin in the mountains on this route. His military knowledge came from Juan MacKenna, another immigrant of Irish descent. One of O'Higgins famous orders on the battlefront was "Lads! Live with honour, or die with glory. He who is brave, follow me!" "Lads" will resonate well with Irish people, haha. After crossing the mountains into Chile, I will run to the Pacific coast."
