Dad and daughter duo travel from Dublin to Blackpool to run half marathon in memory of granddad who holidayed 47 times in resort

Austin McDonald, 81, first came to Blackpool in 1965 on his honeymoon with wife Jean, and returned almost every year since, before he was diagnosed with dementia and was unable to make the overseas trip.

The granddad-of-five died in February last year four weeks after testing positive for Covid-19. Yesterday (April 24), his son Damien and granddaughter Sinead returned to the resort for the first time since his death to run the half-marathon from the Imperial Hotel, to Starr Gate, to Little Bispham and back in his honour.

Damien, 55, said: “My dad loved the shows. In Dublin now we have some big theatres where we get West End productions, but back then in the 60s, 70s and even 80s when we were growing up we’d to come to see the shows in Blackpool.

“The Opera House had big stars that there was no chance of seeing in Dublin.

"Back then, all the TV stars were in Blackpool, and Dad loved that. In the space of two weeks he'd go to five or six shows. Bucks Fizz, Little and Large, Cannon and Ball, Les Dawson, Joe Longthorn, all the stars of the 70s. Ken Dodd was his favourite and we used to follow him religiously. He’d come to Blackpool pretty much every October, and my dad would come for the lights and to see Ken Dodd at the Grand.”

He added: “Coming back has been a little bit emotional. I decided that I wanted to do something to mark Dad's love of Blackpool. I’ve been a runner most of my life and when I saw there was a half-marathon on I thought: that’s the way I want to do it.

“We paid Blackpool Council to for a memorial plaque on the sea wall at Bispham, and I got a little bit choked up because the route ran almost past the plaques. So I gave a little salute to Dad there.

Dad would have been massively proud of us, doing this in Blackpool, because he loved the place so much. He'd be giving us a big thumbs up.”