BLIND DAVE LAUNCHES 7/7/7 MARATHON BID

10-01-2007

Black Country runner and Stirrer blogger Blind Dave Heeley has announced his most awesome challenge yet - he aims to become the first disabled athlete to run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.

The 7/7/7 feat was first achieved by Sir Ranulph Fiennes in 2003 along with his colleague Mike Stroud.

Now Dave - who raised more than £50,000 last year for the Guide Dogs charity when he ran the both the London and New York marathons - is hoping to emulate that achievement along with his co-runner Malcolm Carr aka Mad Mac.

He said: “I must be daft I know, but I heard a radio programme about 4 years ago with Ranulph and something in my head just said ‘I want to do that'. I kept it under wraps because my previous running guide had a few problems at the time, but now Mac is on the scene, it's something I really want to do. I'm in my 50th year, and it's a challenge for myself really.”

Dave needs to raise around £50,000 to achieve his goal, but reckons he might be able to generate £1 million in sponsorship - enough to put another 30 or more Guide Dogs on the road.

He said: “It's also about awareness. Someone goes blind every five seconds around the world, so this is our chance to spread the message about what that means.”