Bressie and Revive Active join forces to stage Mullingar Marathon Mind

Two of Mullingar’s biggest success stories, Niall Breslin and Revive Active, have joined forces to stage the first ever Mullingar Marathon Mind in which 1,000 people will join Bressie and four participants in the run of their lives.

The four, who are at the centre of Bressie’s latest podcast series, have each had unique challenges in life and the completion of the 26.2 mile run will mark the end of a mental, emotional and physical endurance test.

On Thursday week last, Bressie visited the Revive Active production facility at Lough Sheever Corporate Park, Mullingar, where they produce a range of supplements for people of all ages.

He was taken on a tour of the plant by the founder of the company and its managing director, Daithí O’Connor, and the head of production, Colm Horton. He chatted to many of the 25 workers and even tried his hand at packaging some of the products, so some lucky Revive Active customers may receive a batch boxed by Bressie.

Speaking at the launch of the partnership, Mr O’Connor said: “We are delighted to be a part of the very first Marathon Mind in Mullingar. Having opened our Revive Active production plant here just three years ago and created local employment, we are very much at home in Mullingar.”

This is not Revive Active’s first association with a Bressie project as they have, for years, backed his ‘A Lust for Life’ campaign, now one of the biggest mental health charities in the country.

“It was making a difference when there weren’t many voices out there for mental health,” Mr O’Connor remarked at Thursday’s launch.

Taking Niall around the plant, Colm Horton explained how they coped with Covid, turning their boardroom into a canteen to allow for social distancing and working 12-hour shifts six days a week to ensure that the goods were produced, packaged and out the door the same day.

Revive Active now sell to 2,000 pharmacies and health food shops in Ireland and export across the world, having recently signed a €1 million deal with Nigeria, and it all comes from Mullingar. They produce 10 different products and have “huge plans to continue growing”.

There are 25 working in Mullingar, but the company employs 60 in total, in Galway and London as well as sales reps on the road.

The Marathon on November 13, will start and finish at Columb Barracks, Mullingar, taking in the Old Rail Trail Greenway, Royal Canal Greenway and the shores of Lough Ennell. Niall and the Marathon Mind team would love others to take on the challenge too, and if people want they can go to cheer the team on the sidelines.

Bressie says he cannot wait for the “buzz” around his hometown when 1000 runners and their families come together to celebrate their achievement.

It is a huge undertaking, with so many moving parts, and without sponsorship we could not do it, Niall said. He also acknowledged the help received from other quarters – local gardaí, Mullingar Chamber, Murty Hanly, the race director, Doug Bates, head of the marshals, Kim O’Callaghan, events producer, Johnny Geoghegan, head of public relations and marketing, and Niall’s friend, Liam Maher, “my eyes and ears on the ground”.

Last March, Niall, a champion of mental health causes, teamed up with professionals and began coaching, training and mentoring four individuals to complete the marathon. He has documented every step, setback and drop of sweat on his award-winning Where Is My Mind podcast. The aim of the series has been to train the mind to make the body strong, not the other way around, and to invite listeners to join on their own journeys too.

After a lengthy selection process from more than 800 applicants, the Marathon Mind team of experts selected four individuals with powerful personal stories who had overcome significant adversity in their lives and were looking for a challenge to focus on.

“I am blown away by the commitment of these four incredible individuals to a really tough, sometimes gruelling, regime. They’ve been absolute legends all four of them – facing the toughest mental and physical battles and pushing through – I can’t wait to smash the finish line with them and everyone else who joins us on the day,” Niall said.

Marathon Mind has been an exciting venture for the Where Is My Mind podcast and the series were some of the most listened to episodes this year. Niall’s guests include An Taoiseach Michael Martin, Mike Ryan (WHO), and global mindfulness guru Dan Harris. The podcast is produced by Niall along with Ciara O’Connor Walsh and Aoife Plunkett and won creative podcast of the year at the British Podcast Awards in July 2020.