Neil O’Maonaigh-Lennon, who has taught English in Taiwan for just over a year, launched his month-long run from Keelung’s Chungcheng Park, accompanied by Keelung Mayor Chang Tung-jung and a group of foreign nationals and Taiwanese marathoners.

Mayor Chang presented O’Maonaigh-Lennon with a “thank you” certificate and a donation as tokens of appreciation for the compassion the marathoner has shown to Taiwan’s people.

O’Maonaigh-Lennon, who tells people to call him “O’Neil” because his name is long and difficult to pronounce, said he will attempt to run 42 kilometers — the length of a marathon — every day in his bid to raise funds for the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders and Cancer Research UK.

From Keelung, O’Maonaigh-Lennon headed to Jiufen — a hilly town located near an abandoned gold mine that has become a popular tourist destination — and Pingxi — a sleepy mountain village — in Taipei County.

He will then run to the northeastern city of Yilan and the eastern counties of Hualien and Taitung before arriving in the southernmost county of Pingtung.

From Pingtung’s National Kenting Park —located at the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper — the runners plan to turn north to the west coast counties of Kaohsiung, Tainan, Chiayi and Yunlin, in that order.

After arriving in Taichung City, central Taiwan, they will continue to head north, eventually arriving in Taipei City on April 29 and wrapping up the 30-day around-the island run in Guandu — a wild bird sanctuary town near where the Danshui River flows out to the Taiwan Strait — on April 30.

There are an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 people in Taiwan suffering from rare disorders, with only about 15 doctors trained in the special diseases, according to the private Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders.

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