Overseas marathons

You can fulfill your goal while raising much needed funds for the Irish Cancer Society. We have guaranteed charity entry places for a number of the world's biggest marathons.

TCS New York City Marathon 2020

How it works

Overseas marathons FAQs

Q: How do I apply directly for a guaranteed Irish Cancer Society charity place?

A: Fill out our online registration form with the marathon or race of your choice and we will contact you with further details.

Q: How much do I have to raise?

A: For our guaranteed entry place we ask for a minimum sponsorship to be raised. This will vary from race to race. 0818 10 20 30 or email fundraising @irishcancer.ie for more information.

If you have secured your own place on an overseas marathon or race, or you are taking part in a marathon or race in Ireland, there is no fundraising target. We ask you to fundraise as much as you can.

Q: What is my "own place"?

A: If you have been successful in the overseas marathon or race lottery to secure your place, or if you have already paid your own way with Sports Travel, this is known as your "own place".

Share your experience

If you have any photos from a marathon you ran on behalf of the Society, that you wish to share or a story about why you participated we would love to hear from you. Please forward them onto Lauren fundraising @irishcancer.ie

Apply for a Irish Cancer Society charity guaranteed place

You can apply for an Irish Cancer Society charity assured place, for which we ask for a minimum sponsorship pledge. This will vary from race to race.

Complete our online registration form to receive more details.
Our places will be supplied by Sports Travel International.
Our package will include flights, accommodation, race entry and bus to the race start.

Registering to run for the Irish Cancer Society

Complete our online registration form to receive your free Run4Life fundraising pack.

How you'll help

One of the programmes your funds will help support is our night nursing service, which is a free, nationwide service the Irish Cancer Society provides to people who want to spend their final days at home. By signing up to run the a marathon you will help make sure an Irish Cancer Society night nurse is there for people when they need one most; sitting with them, comforting them, answering their questions and giving them the best possible care.

Where the money goes

The Irish Cancer Society relies almost entirely on donations from members of the public to fund its work. Funds are used to provide vital services for people affected by cancer. These include:

13 Daffodil Centres, which are staffed by specialist nurses & volunteers to provide both practical information & emotional support.
Our freephone Support Line 1800 200 700, which provided free advice and information to over 42,000 people last year.
The Night Nursing Service, which provided over 8,000 nights of care for cancer patients at end of life last year
The Volunteer Driver Service, which provided free transportation for patients to attend 11,000 chemotherapy appointments.

Money raised will also fund innovative cancer research projects, with €20m invested into lifesaving research by the Society since 2010. This investment has supported more than 150 cancer researchers to work on a diverse range of individual and collaborative projects that will ultimately lead to better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer.