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Stephen set to run 200 miles around diocese to raise funds for Lisburn Cathedral hall repairs

Monday March 10th 2025

Stephen McLoughlin, musical director at Lisburn Cathedral, will run 200 miles around the perimeter of Connor Diocese over four days in April.

Runners – join Stephen McLoughlin on his Connor Big Run!

Stephen McLoughlin, musical director at Lisburn Cathedral, took up running when a visual impairment meant he could no longer drive. Now Stephen plans to run 200 miles around the perimeter of Connor Diocese to raise funds for the repair of the Cathedral Hall.

Although he has only been running for three years, Stephen will undertake this huge challenge over four days from April 12 to 15 and is hoping runners from parishes around the diocese will join him at various stages along the way.

In addition to his role as musical director at Lisburn Cathedral, Stephen is a self-employed music teacher, based in Harmony Hill Primary School for more than 20 years and also teaching privately. He used to own a music shop in the city.

He is involved in a Community Orchestra made up of 50 musicians which rehearses in the Cathedral Hall. “Music is just what I do,” he says.

Aged 52, he is married to Judith, and they have three children – Zoe, 23, Gemma, 20, and Lillie, 13.

It was a minor car accident three years ago that made Stephen take up running. “It was not a major accident, but as I was only sighted in one eye, I was told to have my other eye checked. They found I have blind spots and as a result I was told not to drive,” he says.

“But I wanted to keep my independence. I was going to get an electric scooter, but with my eyesight this would be no safer to drive than a car, so I just started running.”

Stephen McLoughlin in familiar pose as musical director at Lisburn Cathedral, photographed at the Connor Big Sing. Picture: Norman Briggs.

Now Stephen literally runs everywhere – to work, to church, to the Community Orchestra, even to interviews with Diocesan Communications Officers!

“I started with the Couch to 5k programme. The first 5k I did was after I just missed a bus home from the station and rather than wait an hour for the next one, I decided to run it – even though I was wearing jeans, Converse shoes and my coat etc. It was uphill, but I found I was running so well, I even ran past the house.”

That was the start of it. At one point, Stephen weighed 19.5 stone – since taking up running he has lost 5.5 stone. But he said the physical changes are only part of the benefits of running and that as well as raising funds for the Cathedral, he hopes this run will also raise awareness of the mental health benefits of running.

“Being outside on a cold morning in a pair of shorts sounds barmy, but it is marvellous, you see the world in a different way. It is lovely,” he says.

“I have had sore knees and sore hips, but I just keep running and it all goes away. There were times I had to go up the stairs sideways because of my knees, and I know that if I went to a doctor they would probably have told me to stop running.”

But Stephen hasn’t stopped. He has run both the Belfast and Dublin Marathons twice, the London Marathon in 2023, and virtually in 2024. “When I did the Virtual London Marathon, I started at 5am so I was finished, showered and dressed in time for work!” he reveals.

Stephen’s best time for a marathon to date is three hours 49 minutes, but he modestly says he is not trying to break speed records when he runs.

“I will be aiming for 11-minute miles. I would rather do 10 miles slowly than two miles fast,” he says.

Stephen’s route around Connor Diocese – please note this may be subject to change.

Stephen decided to include all of Connor Diocese in this fundraising challenge, explaining that a Cathedral Church is for everyone in the diocese. “In my mind, I am doing this for Connor Diocese, so I thought I would run around the perimeter of the diocese. The section along the coast will be fabulous, and various runners from the Cathedral are going to join me along the way. Greg McClure from the Community Orchestra will run the whole way with me.”

They have been offered a motorhome as a support vehicle, and plan to sleep in rented accommodation en route.

“At one stage I was going to get my daughter to put a mattress in the back of her car, but now the project is a bit more structured,” Stephen laughs.

“I thought that I would encourage people from other areas in the diocese to come out and run with me, I am not out to win any medals for speed, but there are so many health benefits. I think a lot more people could run than think they could, and I would love to hear from people who might want to join me on sections of the route.”

The repairs to Cathedral Hall will cost in the region of £500,000 – Stephen is aiming to raise £5,000 of this through sponsorship and has a Just Giving page for online donations. On this, Stephen writes: “Last year Lisburn Cathedral celebrated 400 years in its present site, and while the church building went through a major refit recently, it is now time to address the hall.

“The Cathedral celebrates having a community-driven vision and the hall hosts a variety of community groups every week but is in need of modernisation to continue this work. Most importantly to me, the hall is the venue for the Community Orchestra’s weekly rehearsals and the orchestra is most grateful for the kind accommodation given since 2019.”

Stephen admits that the part of the run he is looking forward to most is getting home at the end, particularly when he reaches the last straight on the road back to Lisburn from the Moira Roundabout.

“But it is going to be nice to spend time with other runners, and I am looking forward to seeing the north coast – I hope I have the breath to take it in! We are not going to kill ourselves, we will walk if we have to.”

The main challenge, Stephen thinks, will be tiredness. “I have done 30 miles in a day before, but never 40. At present I train in 10-mile sessions. I hope the accumulation of this will give me the stamina in my legs. I have never really suffered from blisters or chaffing, so I hope I won’t start now.

“My running partner Greg has done a 100-mile race, but he is treating this with respect too. I am concerned that I might not be able to keep going, but I am pig-headed and will just keep at it, even if I have to walk it.”

He takes encouragement from Isiah 40 v 31: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

He adds: “I could get into a state of mind where it is easy to run, and other times it can be like running through treacle.”

Stephen McLoughlin.

On top of the normal challenges presented by long distance running, Stephen also has his problems with his peripheral vision.

“Kerbs are my nemesis. I once fell over a kerb and hit my face and chipped my tooth. I am glad Greg will be with me, and as long as the road is clear in front I will be okay, but I will definitely not be running after dark.”

Stephen says he is inspired by others.

“I know people who are completely blind and they live very full lives. It humbles you when you see people with impairments like blindness and how they overcome them. Faced with a choice of sitting back and moping – something I probably did for a day – I have come to see it from a different angle.”

His family will all be cheering him on along the route. Stephen admits his daughters think he is mad – but he is looking forward to them keeping him supplied with ‘coffee and fish suppers!’

Stephen will begin his 200-mile challenge at Lisburn Cathedral at 7am on Saturday April 12 and will run almost two marathons a day for the next four days.

He will stop in Belfast, Carrickfergus and Glenarm; then Waterfoot, Torr’s Head, Ballycastle, White Park Bay and Portballintrae the next day. Day three will take in Coleraine, Ballymoney, Portglenone and Randalstown; and the final day will see him heading to Crumlin, Glenavy and the Moira Roundabout for that final leg home to Lisburn.

If you would like to support Stephen by joining him for a stretch of the run, he would love to hear from you on stephenmcloughlin@me.com, or you can make a donation at Just Giving.

Good luck Stephen!

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