Beg, Borrow, Steal broke the €100,000 mark this week in total fundraising over the last three years, according to SU President Dylan Kehoe.
The annual event which saw 120 students race from The DCU Hub to Rome was in aid of The Irish Cancer Society in association with Movember Ireland for the second year running.
Last year’s event raised over €50,000 and was Movember Ireland’s largest fundraiser in 2016.
The ever growing event, which has been held by Esoc society for the last three years, transitioned to being SU run for the first time this year. The concept which was set up by Dylan Kehoe in 2013 has been a huge success to date and is attracting even larger interest for next year.
“We’re in talks with big companies over in the states and the UK that are eager to get involved and we’re hoping to launch the event in multiple universities next year,” Dylan said. “In three years we’ve come from Cork to now looking at California so who knows this time next year where we’ll be. ”
This year’s winners were Oran Duffy and Liam Mc Sweeney who reached destination, Rome, in less than 24 hours, known as team ‘Lemmons’.
60 two-person teams gathered sponsorship before and during their trips with this year’s winners raising over €2,000 alone in advance. An advantage of a fifteen minute head start was provided to the contestants that raised most, providing initiative to fundraise.
A group from the SU including Dylan Kehoe, Cody Byrne and Manus Mc Loughlin as well as past Beg Borrow Steal committee members, headed out to the finish line in Rome to greet the winners.
Dylan said how the transition from Esoc to SU will continue over the next few years and that he believes it should not affect Esoc as a society.
“I’ve given a lot to Esoc over the years and many of the events they run have come from me. Beg Borrow Steal is my personal thing and I am sure that Esoc will survive without it.”
Rachael Kellegher
Image: Darragh Culhane