Strabane postman Seamus raises funds for brain tumour research

RESIDENTS in Strabane will surely be familiar with Seamus McAteer. A postman for 20 years in the town, Seamus was a familiar sight pounding the pavement every morning with a bag slung over his shoulder before continuing his career in his current home of Ballymoney.

Always a keen runner, Seamus recently took on the Dublin Marathon in aid of raising much-needed funds for Brain Tumour Research UK managing to raise a whopping £4,122. It’s a charity which is close to Seamus’s heart as his mother Anne passed away suddenly from a brain tumour in 2018.

Seamus takes up the story…

“I decided I wanted to do something to honour my late mother and this seemed like the perfect thing. Walking around every day with a bag of letters and parcels, you do tend to keep up your fitness levels and, as I’ve done four marathons, I knew I could easily do this.

“I needed to train of course and just went down there on the day, did the marathon and raised what I could, which was quite a lot thankfully. I finished the marathon in just over four hours, which seems long for someone used to walking, but anything like personal bests weren’t in my head; it was all about crossing that finishing line.”

Seamus met with Carol Robertson, head of Community Fundraising for Brain Tumour Research UK this week and was proud to hand over the cheque. Asked if more marathons were on the horizon, Seamus added, “Yep. I’m signed up to do Dublin again next October and I’m signing up for half marathons in Omagh, Belfast and Hillsborough, although they won’t be for a charity this time. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of people this time, but the cost of living crisis is biting and it wouldn’t be fair to ask people for sponsorship when they’re having trouble trying to live comfortably.”