Three Galway women, one of whom suffers from Cystic Fibrosis, will be heading stateside this October to compete in one of the world's toughest and well-known marathons.

Caroline Heffernan, Celia Davin and Norma O'Rourke are heading to New York this October to take part in the NY Marathon this November.

Caroline Heffernan, her sister Celia Davin and her friend Norma O'Rourke will be New York bound on Friday 31 October, where they will be participating in the annual New York Marathon on Sunday 2 November.

Caroline, who hails from Tuam, decided to do the marathon just over a year ago upon her return from Lourdes.

"It was a moment of madness really and then, when I had told everyone, I knew I had to do it!" she says.

This will be Caroline and all the girls' first marathon and she hopes to "walk-jog it fastly!" Caroline and the two girls have raised over €15,000 for Cystic Fibrosis, with donations still rolling in as they come closer to the event.

Training has become more serious in the last year and a half for the girls with a teetotal regime in place since September.

"We are really in training mode now. I have increased my diet and we train everyday, talking in 8km, 16km and 24km on the different days. Philip Phelan MSc Program Director with Litton Lane Training in Meath has been of great help and encouragement to us.

"I find it better to train in the mornings and to have my physio then in the evenings.

"Thankfully, I have been in good health the last while and hopefully this will continue up until the race.

"If I get sick, it could set me back a lot. I haven't had any IVs in a while but I am on three antibiotics, so I need to be careful," said Caroline.

Caroline and the two girls, along with Caroline and Celia's mother and two friends, will be heading to the Big Apple on Friday 31 October and they will stay on for a couple of days after the marathon. "Some days I wake up and feel excited and other days I am quite apprehensive, but all in all I am excited about doing the marathon and about seeing New York," she said.

Due to their heavy training schedule, the girls ran a series of fundraising night in Tuam before Christmas where they raised close to €15,000.

However, they are still accepting donations in order to raise the maximum money for this worthy cause.

Anyone who wants to donate money can contact Caroline at 087-9323933 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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