Running the London Marathon for VICTA has been one the most enjoyable experiences of my life. I started running in my early 30s after an ACL injury finished my football career. After a few years of slowly upping my distances, from 5ks to 10ks, I took part in my first half marathon, in Bristol, fundraising for Bristol Children’s Hospital as an extra incentive.
Fast forward a couple of years and I was starting to wonder if I could ever step up to a full marathon. I had entered through the ballot a couple of times but with no success. However my wife drew my attention to another way of taking part, by applying for a gold bond place which is a guaranteed entry to the London Marathon in exchange for a promise to fundraise a certain amount for a given charity. Having a son with a vision impairment (ocular albinism and nystagmus) led us to VICTA, who were advertising for runners in the London Marathon magazine. VICTA were asking for a lot less in fundraising than many of the charities and we realised that this was definitely achievable and that it would also be an extra powerful incentive to help with training and actually completing the race.
We emailed VICTA and were put in touch with the lovely fundraising team there. Their help along the way was invaluable and they sent us everything we needed to help with fundraising (stickers, money buckets, t shirts etc). They also sent a training guide and information on how the money is spent that is raised for VICTA. They also provided several cheering stations along the marathon route which saved me more than once when I was struggling for energy!
The post event party was also brilliant and gave us chance to meet everyone involved with the charity along with many of the other runners.
I loved the experience so much that I ran again 2 years later, then 2 years later again. The third time I ran was guiding a completely blind man called Chris Blackabee, an exhausting experience mentally and physically!
Over the 3 marathons my family and I raised just under £10,000 for VICTA including gift aid and this couldn’t have been done without their support.
In return we have enjoyed some of the many services they offer, the main one being the family activity weekend which I would highly recommend to anyone who has a child with a vision impairment.
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