Guard who ran five-hour marathon in uniform insists pain is nothing like what brave kids endure

Sunday World

17-06-2025

Emmet Long's five-hour run raises €4K
Garda Emmet Long caused a sensation at the recent Cork City marathon by running the entire 42km distance in his Garda trousers and shirt, which included his stab vest.
'I was training quite a while for it,' Emmet (35) tells the Sunday World .
'To be totally truthful, it was a steady enough pace I suppose, being so restricted in the uniform, but myself and my friend ran the whole lot together.'
Emmet during the five-hour run
He and pal Paul Keating were raising money as part of Little Blue Heroes for the children's cancer ward in Cork University Hospital.
'A colleague of mine unfortunately lost his son through cancer a number of years ago and he himself is heavily involved in the Little Blue Heroes,' he explains.
'I did set a personal challenge at the start of the year to complete a marathon anyway, but I work alongside him quite a bit and I just admire him in relation to how he is so involved and is such a gentleman. I was like 'you know what I'd love to give something back to him'.​
'The money is going towards the families in the cancer ward in University College Hospital, to take them on a day out, all of the families together.'
Emmet carried his four-year-old son for the last 100 metres of the race
Father-of-one Emmet also carried his four-year-old son for the last 100 metres until he crossed the finish line.
'I just wanted to plant the seed for him as well, it's a nice thing to do. My son's mam was there as well to cheer us on,' he recalls.
He says the marathon was gruelling, but he did prepare for it.
'My runs prior to it were good. I was training for a long period of time. I suppose the biggest issue with the uniform from the get-go was the extreme rise in body temperature.
'If you began to push along you'd feel it very quick and I just wanted to finish it for the cause, that was my main goal.
Garda Emmet Long carries his son over the finish line of the Cork City marathon
News in 90 Seconds - June 17
'I was hurting, but that only lasts a few hours for me, it lasts a lifetime for them. '
Garda management allowed Emmet to wear his uniform in the race, but he donned running trainers rather than the regulation shoes.
He and Paul initially raised more than €2,000, but when the Garda Instagram and Facebook sites highlighted their achievement that rose to over €4,000.
'All of my colleagues were beyond supportive,' he says. 'It was amazing and all the members of the public. Some of them didn't realise I was running the race, they thought I was just tipping along with Paul, but I actually was. It was so positive from the get-go.
'There were loads of them around for the whole race and loads there at the end as well –the support was fantastic.
Emmet during the five-hour run
'I'm the first guard to ever do it in the uniform. There have been firefighters and other public services I think, especially in the Army, lads have done it. '
Emmet, who is originally from Waterford city, is attached to the drugs unit in Togher Garda Station in Cork City.
'I was in the Army for over seven years and then I finished up the last three to four years in the Irish Aer Corps before going into the guards,' he says.
At the age of 29 he joined the Guards in 2020.
'I have a number of very close friends who are well seasoned in the guards and I suppose they inspired me to take the paths that they had taken. 'I was always really into my fitness and the Army really promoted that for me,' he recalls.
Standing at 5ft8ins and weighing 82kgs he is also a former bodybuilder.
'I have represented Ireland at a national and European level in bodybuilding and I was on the Irish bodybuilding team for over four years, and I went abroad representing Ireland in Europe.
'My last show was in 2019, I placed in the top 10 in the European championships in Santa Susanna in Spain, finishing eighth.' he reveals.