Gardener proves point with 5k a day fundraiser

A Mullingar businessman who was told four years ago he would never run again is doing a 5k every day in January to help a children’s charity.

Ollie Greene is getting up early and hitting the road to raise funds for the Jack and Jill Foundation. At the time of writing he had raised some €1,400.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner on Day 15, Ollie said he was “going grand” and despite the sub zero temperatures some mornings, he is enjoying his early morning runs.

His motivation for running 31 days consecutively is twofold; to support the work done by the Jack and Jill Foundation, a charity his business Better Plants is a long-time supporter of, and to prove to himself how far he has come after doctors told him he would never be able to strenuously exercise again after he broke his heel when he fell 15 feet off a ladder four years ago.

A keen cyclist, runner, swimmer and mountain climber, Ollie was determined to prove his doctors wrong, and by following the advice of his physio, he managed to get back to the things he loved most.

“I said that if I ever got running again, I’d do something good. During the lockdown in November, I wondered if I would be able to do 5k every day for a month and I managed it. I didn’t want to be getting sponsorship and then failing in the middle of it, so I wanted to make sure I would be able to do it in January.”

“It’s the commitment of doing it. It’s getting out at the same time every morning and that is what I am trying to do.”

Ollie’s firm, Better Plants, sells seaweed-based fertilisers for gardeners and farmers. The firm has also added a number of new products to its range, including the square foot vegetable bed (Ollie was the first qualified square foot gardening instructor in Ireland) and a worm tower.

Due in no small part to the restrictions placed on movements during the pandemic, many people have gained a new appreciation for their gardens and the therapeutic benefits of reconnecting with nature.

“It doesn’t have to be on a grand scale,” says Ollie. “Once you are getting out and seeing something growing – I think that is helping pull people through and giving them the sense that they have achieved something.”

Asked what people should do to prepare for the arrival of spring, Ollie says now is the time to start planning what you want to grow and where, to give it the best chance of flourishing.

“It is a bit soon to be planting a lot of seeds, but you could start growing your tomato seeds indoors, looking at getting your soil right and, most importantly, thinking about what you want to grow. There is no point buying a load of seeds and having too much.”

Anyone who would like to donate to Ollie’s fundraiser go do so by going by clicking here.