An Cosantóir

30 I joined the army in 2001, almost 20 years ago. I had just turned 20 and I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. Despite growing up in the Curragh, joining the army was never an ambition of mine. In fact, I had never even conceived myself in the military, until a conversation I had one day with one of my best friends, Rob Doyle (aka Badger). He told me he had just had his fitness test for the army and that a few of our friends from the Curragh had applied too. So, I said to him "I might apply for that, for the craic". I did, I got in, and then I entered into one of the most life-changing few months I've ever experienced. The comradery, the craic, the slagging, the laughs we had, still to this day some of the best times of my life. I still smile and laugh to myself from time to time when a memory from recruit training pops into my head. Also I often reminisce of a day in September when we sat in the back of an army truck, getting ready to go for grub. One of our corporals, Pauric Murray, jumped up on the back of the truck and told us that 2 airplanes had just flown into the twin towers. A surreal moment and one I won't ever forget. Then we come to the life-changing part. There was an extreme level of physical and mental strain that we were under for those few months. It's a cliché, but it will either make you or break you. For me it was the former. During long runs, gruelling route marches, intense mountain hikes and the infamous "scratch", I learned that my mind wanted to give up a long long time before my body reached the level it was capable of. This realisation gave me a robust mental strength which endures to this day. From recruit training onwards I knew that my mind would always try to find the easy way out when it felt some pain or struggle, but my body was designed to endure and could literally 'soldier on'. For some reason, when it comes to jobs, I tend to get restless and fed up easily and want to move on to something else. So, I bought myself out of the army after around 2 years. I spent the next few years doing some travelling and working in various different jobs. Then in 50 PEAKS IN 50 WEEKS 2006 I decided to make a return to the Defence Forces, this time the air corps. I had to slog it through recruit training all over again, for my sins. It was unbelievable craic once again, but not as intense physically and mentally this time round. I trained with my younger cousin Adrian Dunne. He was very young at the time, but it was immediately evident to me that he would go on to become the great soldier and great man he is today. During my 4 years in the air corps, I served overseas in Chad in 2008/09. This was an incredible experience; for 4 months we lived in tents in the middle of the Chadian desert. The patrols were some of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. Coming from my pampered Western way of living in a highly developed country, to seeing how people live in a third-world country, one of the poorest on the planet was sometimes overwhelming. It sometimes felt like I had stepped into a time machine when I saw people living in villages of mud huts and travelling around on the back of donkeys. Experiences like this are incredibly enriching as a human being. I'd encourage everyone in the military to serve overseas and experience other cultures. Travelling is the best thing anyone can do, in my opinion, to acquire an accurate untainted understanding of other cultures, races, religions and nationalities. Fast forward to present day. A week ago, I hiked the highest mountain in Ireland, Carrauntoohil. It was the 50th mountain out of the 50 highest mountains in Ireland that I have hiked this year. I called this challenge '50 peaks in 50 weeks'. Let me tell you why I did this... Near the end of 2019 I was trying to think of something to do to raise money for LauraLynn Children's Hospice. I wanted to do something that was a bit crazy and extremely difficult. Something that would grab people's attention and make them want to donate because of the extremity of the challenge. I had been thinking a lot about getting into hiking as a hobby at the time, so both things just kind of merged in my mind and the idea formed from there. I also wanted the challenge to span most of the year in 2020, as to hopefully accumulate a lot of donations that way. 52 weeks in a year sort of led to the idea of doing 50 mountains, 1 per week. Then 50 peaks in 50 weeks popped into my head and I thought it had a nice ring to it. I first came across LauraLynn when I was looking for a charity for which to run the 2017 Dublin Marathon. I was browsing through charities online and came across this one that said 'children's hospice'. I had been familiar with hospices, as some of the older members of my family have passed away in them. But the children part really threw me for a loop. I had never considered the thought of a children's hospice before and never actually knew LauraLynn existed up to that point. So I started researching more about the place. I had tears in my eyes looking at their website when the heartbreaking reality of a hospice for little kids and their families really started to dawn on me. I contacted them at the time and asked if I could visit. This was in part because I was fascinated about the type of place it was and in part because I knew that when I went there and saw some of the kids, there was no way I wouldn't finish the marathon (I am a terrible long-distance runner). I went there and got a tour of the place. During the tour I encountered some of the kids, their families, the inspiring quote at the entrance, the cute pictures on the walls, the toys. I was overwhelmed. Then when they informed me that they don't get any substantial direct government funding and have to v On the peak of Mount Leinster, Wexford / Carlow, 20th July, with my Nephew Oisín and nieces Ailbhe and Laoise v On the peak of my 50th mountain, Carrauntoohil, Kerry, 19th Sept 2020 v Looking out over the beautiful Connemara landscape while hiking Bencorr and Benbaun, Jan 19th 2020 v On a patrol in Chad heading to N'Djamena, 2008/09, with the 98th Infantry Battalion 50 PEAKS IN 50 WEEKS By Photos from Dermot Behan Dermot Behan

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