Kilmessan's Nichola takes 2nd place in gruelling 260km two-day race

A DETERMINED ultra-marathon runner from Kilmessan clocked up an astonishing 260km and came second in Ireland's first 48 hour marathon in memory of her mum who passed away last year.

Nichola Duffy completed the challenge in freezing temperatures from 6pm on Friday until 6pm on Sunday around the 400m running track at Youth Sport in Omagh.

Despite the gruelling distance, cruel weather conditions and an injury to boot, heroic Nichola says "giving up was never an option" as she battled to reach the finish line in honour of her mother and "best friend" Joan Steen who passed away from brain cancer last year.

The talented athlete has raised €3,600 so far for Beaumont Hospital Cancer Research & Development Trust who looked after Joan her in her final days. And she will be doing it all again in August as one of only 60 people in the world chosen to take part in the World 48 hours Championships in Gloucester in the UK.

"It was my first attempt at 48 hours and it was always going to be a big step up and I didn't anticipate how much of a step up it was going to be," she said.

"When we started on 6pm on Friday it was already in the minuses, when you are running at those kind of temperatures from the beginning, you are up against it. During the night on Friday it dropped to minus 6, it was absolutely freezing, it was snowing and the track was actually freezing over so it was slippy as well and really difficult to navigate.

"I was doing it for my mum and the people that looked after her, so from that sense it gave me my why.

"It was so wonderful to have all of my family there but it really highlighted to me in a lot of ways that the very person I was doing it for, wasn't there so it was very emotional."