Taken form the Sunday Mirror:
WALKING 420 miles is a tough enough job but for Irish popstar Ronan Keating the 22-day "adventure" is one of emotional heartache and heartbreak.
Now one third of the way between the Giants Causeway, Co Antrim, and the Old Head, Co Cork, the 28-year-old singer reveals why he insisted on doing the physically and mentally challenging journey a second time.
"When I decided to do the walk down Ireland for the Marie Keating Foundation I decided it had to be something big to make it worthwhile," he said.
"With me I don't really do things by halves, that's my nature which is why I take on these huge challenges."
Speaking in Belfast, Ronan said that reaching the city was one of the milestones in the walk and that so far everyone involved is feeling great.
He said: "I think we've now broken the back of the walk now that we're three days into it and being in Belfast from the Giants Causeway mentally is a big step.
"Everybody's feeling really good - we've had a day off and we're very chilled, our muscles have relaxed. Last time the physio said we pushed ourselves too far all at once and has insisted on a 24-hour rest every three or four days.
"Getting a day off has been great, I was able to get home and recharge the batteries this week. I went to see Star Wars with the kids and that was a lot of fun.
"At the moment everyone's feeling really good, the atmosphere's great on the road and we're raising a lot of money, there's a great buzz, thank God."
Ronan makes a 420 mile journey sound fun until he reveals the emotional rollercoaster it forces him to face along the way.
Coupled with the physical injuries and mental endurance, even he admits to wondering what he got himself into sometimes.
He explained: "I'm still coming across the same problems physically even though I had them the last time, I'm still getting blisters, still getting shin splints and one of the guys on the road with us Alex - God love him - when we arrived in Ballymena he called the hospital to see if they would lance his blisters and they said no so he had to do it himself - he's gone through a lot of pain.
"We all have a lot of different things that has effected us differently.
"Coming into Belfast was wet and miserable, the sun shone on us the first two days it was beautiful and then suddenly from the moment we got up to the moment we walked into the Europa Hotel it lashed - there was no letting up. There's quite a lonely road between Nutts Corner and just as you come over the Cave Hill. It's a narrow road, the wind and rain was coming across you and no one was talking.
"Those roads are the hardest, especially if you're feeling an injury but if you've got an injury and you hit one of the towns or cities like Belfast then it goes away because you get caught up in the moment - everyone's screaming and the rain doesn't matter when you arrive. It's those lonely roads that hurt the most."
Along the way he meets people of all ages and walks of life who are dying, dying of cancer just like his mother Marie did nine years ago.
He says that each time he speaks to someone new his feelings of loss come flooding back.
One man he met in Banbridge told Ronan he had three weeks to live in 2003 and he hopes that by some miracle he will be able to meet the young man today as he passes through the Co Down village.
He said: "That man's story was one of the greatest of the last walk and one of the most emotional for me I really hope he's still alive. It would be so great if he was still around because last time he told me he'd just three weeks to live.
"It is heartbreaking to put yourself into a situation where you will encounter so many people who will bring back so many personal memories, it's a hard one for me and I pray to God each day that they will be OK. But I know that some won't and it hurts."
For Ronan succeeding in this challenge means everything to him and he has vowed never to give up.
He said: "By hook or by crook I will get to The Old Head, Kinsale.
"They're the things I'm dreading about the walk. But to be part of it again, to be part of the atmosphere we've all longed for it and we did look forward to it. It's a great adventure."
And he admits that sometimes he wonders if he's crazy until he meets another person who shakes his hand and tells him their story of how they fought the disease.
He said: "There are times when the rain is coming down and every mile is getting monotonous there's no houses and no people - but then you come into towns and it's just amazing the feeling.
"Here you are walking the whole length of the country and people are coming out to see you - sometimes I sit down and think to myself 'am I crazy, what am I doing walking the length of Ireland' but there's an incredible buzz.
"I'm not doing this walk for anyone other than those who have been infected or affected by cancer, I'm not doing it because of who I am, my religion, the colour of my skin, my career, I'm doing it for awareness of cancer and how important it is to be aware.
"When I come past a crowd and I hear that cheer it's a completely different feeling than when I stand on stage during a concert, it's amazing to hear both but I guess it's very different.
"With this it's the sense of achievement, there's a different feeling when you're doing it for this cause, it's a sense of achievement that you've reached the end of that mile, that city or that town.
"You can't take that smile off your face. I can't take the smile off my face - even when it's raining - I can't help it, it's a great feeling."
He added: "My dedication to the charity work does come from the fact I lost my mother in 1998 to breast cancer and it's my way of dealing with that loss.
The encouragement we get from people inspires us all so much to go on.
"To know that I might save lives as a result of creating this awareness is so satis- fying because if my mam had have known as much as we do now she
would have probably still been here today."
l YOU can send a donation of A2 to Ronan by texting WALK05 to 57786 throughout the 22-day journey.
For more information log onto
www.mariekeating.com
