Help our London Marathon runners reach their fundraising finish line
Sunday 23 April will be make or break time for thousands of elite and amateur runners taking on one of the world’s most famous long-distance races – the Virgin Money London Marathon. Meet Fight for Sight’s hero runners attempting the 26.2 mile challenge and help them raise money for vital eye research (click on the hyperlinks for individual fundraising pages)…
Friendship group Gavin Herlihy from Leeds, Zeina Raad from Bristol and Laura Rice from Preston, are all running the Marathon in aid of their friend (and Gavin’s girlfriend), house and techno DJ Laura Jones. Laura, who regularly DJs in Ibiza, was diagnosed with the rare inherited condition Stargardt’s disease in 2008. The condition causes the light-sensitive cells in the retina to deteriorate, resulting in central vision loss and in some cases total blindness. There is currently no cure for the disease so funding for continued research is crucial. Gavin, Zeina and Laura are the latest of Laura’s friends to take on the London Marathon with the aim of collectively raising £50k for Fight for Sight within a 10 year period. Click on their links to help them smash their target!
Personal trainer Dan Jones from Kent is taking on the Marathon to raise funds for Fight for Sight and the Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund. The fund, which raises money through Fight for Sight, was founded in 2005 when Emma Salisbury’s son Tommy, then aged 5, was diagnosed with choroideremia, a rare inherited eye condition which causes progressive loss of vision. Dan Jones is one of three Salisbury family friends running the Marathon for the fund – support Dan, Jordan Bater and Kevin Brine in their sterling efforts.
Imogen Rowe, a student from the West Midlands, has a very personal reason for running the Marathon for Fight for Sight. In October 2013, she was diagnosed with keratoconus, an eye disease which causes the cornea to thin and bulge into a cone-like shape. Currently there is no cure and Imogen lives with no vision in her right eye. Coupled with dyspraxia, a condition that affects coordination, speech, fine and gross motor skills and balance, it is even more impressive that Imogen is taking on the 26 miles for charity – we’ll be cheering her on every step of the way! [Read Imogen’s full story here].
Natasha Dickinson, Director of Marketing and Development at Fight for Sight, said, “The London Marathon is one of the toughest races out there, so to all of those taking it on in aid of Fight for Sight, we can’t thank you enough! The money raised is going to be a real boost to eye research, helping us understand, treat and prevent eye conditions that affect millions of people around the world.”
Good luck to everyone in Team Fight for Sight – keep on running!
The Fight for Sight cheerleaders will be at the 13 and 22 mile points – so please feel free to join us and cheer along our fantastic runners! Contact Jo Harford on 020 7264 3900 or email Josephine@fightforsight.org.uk for further details.