'Blind Dave' completes marathon mission

‘Blind Dave’ Heeley has shown that courage and desire can literally take one pretty far.

As he crossed the finish line of the London Marathon with sighted guide and compatriot Malcolm Carr in 5hrs and 20mins yesterday, the blind runner from West Bromwich in central England completed his extra-ordinary globe-trotting feat of running seven marathons in seven days across seven continents.

In doing so, Heeley became the first disabled athlete and the third person ever to run the Seven Magnificent Marathons.

Heeley’s gruelling week long journey took him through the Falkland Islands, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles, Sydney, Dubai and Tunis before he sealed the 294km challenge in London where he was greeted at the finish by his wife Debbie and daughters, Dannie, Georgie Lee and Grace.

“It’s been a fantastic week. It’s been a week of on a plane, off a plane, run,” Heeley was quoted as saying in the Birmingham Mail.

“And we have been running in very different temperatures and terrains.

“Being blind I notice these things a lot more, but Malc describes to me what’s about and how the course is going and which way the road bends, stuff like that.

“The Falklands were very cold and we were given a gun salute and a fly-pass from a Tornado which nearly made me jump out of my skin.

“They even let us run along the runway, which was amazing because these planes were all on stand-by.

“LA was probably just right temperature-wise, Sydney was very hot and Dubai nearly melted us.

“Tunis was a great run but was nearly all up rather than down. But the support we have got from people all along the way has been fantastic.

“In Tunisia we were given a police escort and people were calling out messages of support. In fact, the police were closing roads for us left, right and centre. We were causing chaos in some areas but they said it was fine.

“The travelling has been a strain, but that was part of the challenge, to see if our bodies could cope with it.

“We’ve been getting sleep when we can and there have been some real aches and pains, but the physios have kept us going and as the week has gone on and the runs were completed we really felt we could do this and became more confident.

“The guide dogs charity is a wonderful cause to raise money for and by doing this we’ve made history as well as raising awareness,” added Heeley whose motive had been to increase awareness of visual impairment around the globe and also raise funds for Guide Dogs in the UK and for the visual impairment charities in the countries he ran in.

Heeley’s incredible feat has evoked praise from several famous names. Renowned marathon runner, Paula Radcliffe said: “I hope thousands of people have been inspired by Dave's amazing ambition to complete seven marathons, on seven continents, in seven days. It is amazing to see that sight loss does not prevent enjoyment and achievement in long distance running.”

Dave Bedford, Flora London Marathon race director, said: “The Flora London Marathon was proud to be a part of Dave’s inspirational challenge. He is an outstanding ambassador for both able and disabled runners in the UK, and around the globe. We are very excited that the Flora London Marathon was chosen as the final leg of Guide Dogs’ Seven Magnificent Marathons, and felt honoured to welcome him across the finishing line as he took his final strides into the history books.”


Facts about Guide Dogs’ Seven Magnificent Marathons

• Heeley and Carr ran 4800km in preparation for the marathon over the past few months, including an extra 2400km on a cross trainer.
• Heeley and Carr drank a mixture of water and energy and electrolyte drinks equalling 5 litres per marathon and an average per day of around 10 to 11 litres a day.
• They were taking on during each marathon approx. 1600 calories, and in a day around 6000 calories.
• Their diet mainly consisted of dried fruit muesli bars, pasta and other high protein and carbohydrate foods.
• Heeley and Carr have lost no weight due to the carefully planned nutrition programme, devised by Dr Phil Glasgow at the Sports Institute Northern Ireland who travelled with the duo as team physiotherapist.
• After each marathon, Heeley and Carr took a three minute ice bath to reduce the level of lactic acid in their bodies.
• They would have run 293.4km in a week – that’s 250,000 steps!
• 2008 is the 7th Flora London Marathon which Dave and his sighted guide have run.
• Having completed the Flora London Marathon on Sunday 13 April, Dave will have run 14 marathons in his life.