NYC Run in the Dark raises $5,000 for Mark Pollock Trust – VIDEO

Run in the Dark in Riverside Park raises funds for Northern Irish adventurer

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MOLLY MULDOON,

IrishCentral Deputy Editor

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Almost 300 participants took part in Wednesday’s evening’s ‘Run in the Dark’ in New York City

Photo by Run in the Dark

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Almost 300 participants took part in Wednesday’s evening’s ‘Run in the Dark’ in New York City, which raised $5,000 for the Mark Pollock Trust.

Hundreds of walkers and runners wearing red flashing armbands completed the 5km run in Riverside Park in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Over 8,000 people took part in simultaneous running events in Dublin, Cork, Belfast, London and New York. As well as these official events, there were ‘pop up’ runs for the Mark Pollock Trust in Sydney, Hong Kong, Sydney; Scotland, Dallas and San Francisco.

Despite losing his sight at the age of 22, Mark Pollock went on to become one of the world's most respected adventure athletes.

The Co. Down man completed amazing journeys including running six marathons in seven days across the Gobi Desert and racing hundreds of miles to the South Pole in freezing temperatures. In fact, he was the first blind person to trek to the South Pole. Pollock also won two medals for Northern Ireland, in rowing, at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Tragedy struck again in 2010, when Pollock fell from a two storey window, an accident which left him paralyzed. After 18 months in hospital he is determined to take back control of his life and he is working with researchers in California to create a functional form of robotic legs for people with paralysis.

For more information about the Mark Pollock Trust, click here.

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