Setting up his own business at a young age meant that Ray O'Connor was soon working 18-hour days and developing a serious smoking addiction, but in 2000, he decided to kick the habit and run the London marathon.

As a child, Ray was very active, with a huge interest in hurling, soccer and running. However at 16 years of age, he stopped training and channelled his energies into education, a move that paid off when he opened his own public relations business at the age of 25. The stressful lifestyle associated with his job meant that Ray became unfit but when he heard of an opportunity to leave his bad habits behind, he jumped at the chance.

"We had been doing some work for Croí and one day I was talking to the director, Neil Johnson, who mentioned that a group of people were going to run the London Marathon. I told him that day that I was going to give up the fags and run the marathon in six months time," he says.

Ray kept to his word and completed his first marathon in November 2000 in five hours. Since then he has competed in 35 marathons all over the world, including New York, Chicago and our own Dublin event. He admits that long distance running has become an addiction and the emotions that go along with it can sometimes be overwhelming.

"Finishing a race is a weird emotion. With long distance running, your body releases endorphins so that you get that feel-good factor. You can get very emotional and the combination of that and how chuffed you feel to have finished means that you can sometimes end up in tears. It's kind of embarrassing really."

Ray's next big target is to run ten marathons in ten days in Cumbria later this year. But, he says, this is simply a preparation for a 243km endurance race, the Marathon des Sables, which takes place every year across the Sahara Desert in Morocco.

"The Marathon des Sables is the equivalent of six marathons in six days. It is really tough going because of the conditions and the fact that you have to carry your gear as well. I am really looking forward to it though. I was lucky to get a place in the 2009 race because only 700 people can take part and it sold out in two hours."

Obviously not someone who is afraid of a challenge, Ray decided to push his passion for marathons even further, by starting up the first ever Connemarathon in 2001.

"The great thing about long distance running is that it attracts so many different people, from professional athletes to small, fat 80-year-old grannies. But all of the major marathons are set in busy urban areas; I just thought that Connemara would make a perfect location for a different type of marathon. We don't take things too seriously and we try to play up the stereotypes, from using old tannoy speakers to having a man with an accordion playing at the beginning of the race."

The idea has proved to be a successful one and the race has grown in strength in the last number of years. While 72 people entered the first Connemarathon, this year's event has already sold out. Four thousand people, both from Ireland and all over the world, have signed up to take part and 'hit the wall at Connemara' on 6 April.

In the future, Ray hopes to continue to build on the success of the marathon and bring the action worldwide.

"We have been lucky and hit every goal that we have set so far. I don't know what else we can do to develop it to be honest. Four thousand is logistically the most we can have taking part. I think if we let everyone who wanted to enter in, then we would have about 7,000. Something I would like is to have helicopters filming the race from above and possibly show it on the Discovery Channel. It's a funny ambition but it would be great!"

Ray's contribution to Galway and, in particular his work with Croí, is to be rewarded later this week when he accepts a 'Galway Person of the Year' award in a ceremony at the Clayton Hotel on Saturday, 26 January.

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