NOTHING was standing in the way of Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley on Sunday as he ran the Dublin Marathon but missed out on winning the Irish League title just hours later.
It was a day of two halves for Bradley, 40, who was aiming to complete the perfect weekend as he ran 26.2miles in the morning before getting a helicopter to what could have been a triumphant setting in the afternoon.
Despite his Rovers side being beaten by their nearest challengers, Derry City, and having to wait for the possible crowning moment, there was a huge victory nonetheless.
Bradley and his assistant, Glenn Cronin, made the effort to fly from Dublin to Derry, arriving at the match after kick off, going the extra mile yet again on an already momentous day.
In the process, the former Rovers player raised over a staggering £40,000 for Oscar’s Kids Ireland, a charity close to his heart, and ran the marathon in an impressive three hours, 57 minutes, and 23 seconds.
Bradley and Cronin were in the air when their players started to warm up and had to nervously prepare over a 45-minute journey.
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By touchdown, Bradley had missed the opening 10 minutes and things didn’t get much better with his side soon falling behind shortly after, but he had taken a real win earlier on.
Brandon Fleming put the hosts ahead before Sadou Diallo added a late second to delay Rovers’ celebrations.
They only need one point to become champions but have lost their last four games in all competitions, including three in the league.
Rovers have been defeated in five of their last six matches including Conference League commitments and they went down to 10 men at Brandywell too.
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For all of Bradley’s attempts to cap off a unique Sunday, nothing was stopping him from running in the marathon.
His son, Josh, has been through struggles with leukaemia but got the all-clear earlier this year.
Oscar’s Kids Ireland helped Bradley and his loved ones throughout the battle and inspired his run.
Cronin’s daughter Aoife was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma that got caught early and was successfully removed.
Both managers had their children’s name written on their arms during the race.
Speaking afterwards, Bradley said: “When it got tough, we just kept thinking of them two and looking at the names and understanding the reason why we’re doing it.”
He added: “The support was incredible. Honestly, this day is a special day.
“The people of Ireland that come out and support you, it’s special, it really is.
“It helps you get through and thanks to every one of them. We’ve done it in under four which is the aim.
“It was incredibly hard, the crowd was incredible, people on the way round were incredible.
“We’ve done it, we’ve raised a lot of money and that’s what the aim was today.
“Oscar’s Kids, an incredible charity to help families up and down the country in extremely difficult times.
“This is a small way that we can help them out and it will go a long way to helping kids and families up and down the country.”
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Rovers can win the league on Wednesday as they host Galway United. If they were to lose that, there is still the buffer of Sligo Rovers visiting on Saturday.
Galway are seventh and Sligo eighth in a 10-team top division in Ireland.
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