A GRIEVING family who ran the Dublin City Marathon in honour of a loved one killed in a car crash weeks earlier is now planning its next tribute run.

Dave Kelly (39), from Monument Road, Menlo, Co Galway, was an avid marathon runner and was due to take part in the race on Monday.

But Dave was killed when his car struck a wall on the Moycullen Road, near Galway city, in the early hours of October 3.

In tribute to Dave, his wife Joan and his three children Ruth (11), Alice (9), and Gene (6) ran a relay in his memory, along with his friends and relatives.

"It was a fantastic day and a wild night," said Joan.

"Our time was 4.16 and that was brilliant. We had fresh legs on every mile, but it was tough for every runner.

"The kids were brilliant. I found it really, really hard and I run all the time. I was just trying to keep up with them. I thought I'd be emotional but all I was thinking of was them.

"I turned into a mother and I was looking out for them."

But Joan was overcome with emotion after she heard the announcers mention Dave when she crossed the finish line with her children.

"They were talking about Dave over the line, and I realised how crazy it was that he wasn't there, and I just put my head down and I cried," she said.

memorial

"Every day, I'm waking up with something new. I suppose I'm tired. But you realise the great friends that you have.

"We laughed so much. We're going to do an annual event and have the option of a full marathon or a half-marathon, and we'd do it just for ourselves."

The Galway gang made the memorial run a huge occasion, celebrating Dave's life and love for marathons.

"There was a sing-song all the way back to Galway on the bus, and we had a few pints in the Merrion Hotel and in O'Donoghues," said Joan.

"We had about 50 cheeseburgers in Burger King -- we all ate as many burgers as we could on the way home."

"The excitement of a marathon is just incredible. It made me realise why we do it, and I might think about doing a half-marathon in Connemara or in Edinburgh."

Joan remarked that the Dublin City Marathon can be about much more than running, since many of the competitors have stories behind their motivations to take part.

"They were all running for different reasons," she said.

"A few people [in our group] now have the bug, so it's changing everyone's lives in that way."

Joan says she and her friends will now run their own marathon every year, to make it a tradition in Dave's name.

"Dave's personal best was 3.27 hours in Amsterdam," she said. "I don't know what he was aiming for this year -- he would have run it, but I'm not sure if he would have been able to do better."

Joan has nothing but praise for the organisers of the Dublin City Marathon, since they were so willing to accommodate the family and friends.

respect

"Once we explained, they just let us get on with it," she said.

"We did it with the height of respect for the marathon. We only ran on the left and we didn't cross in front of anyone."

To donate to Joan's chosen charity Galway Diabetes Parents Support Group, make a lodgement to Bank of Ireland, Salthill Branch, account name: Diabetes Federation Galway Branch, sort code: 90 38 40 and account number: 40071292.

hnews@herald.ie

- Geraldine Gittens