‘Blind Dave’ celebrates one year since Guide Dogs’ Seven Magnificent Marathons

Guide dog owner Dave Heeley – ‘Blind Dave’ as he likes to be known is celebrating the first anniversary of his inspirational challenge to become the first blind person to run seven marathons, on seven continents, in seven days.

From 07 – 13 April 2008, Dave, from West Bromwich, along with his sighted running guide Malcolm Carr completed the historic challenge by running marathons in the following locations;

• Monday 07 April 2008 at 00:01BST at Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands in four hours and fourteen minutes. 
• Monday 07 April 2008 in Rio De Janeiro (South America) in four hours forty-five minutes (this was in the same 24 hour period to allow for the day the team lost crossing the date line).
• Tuesday 08 April 2009 in Los Angeles (North America) in four hours and thirty-five minutes.
• Thursday 10 April 2008 in Sydney (Australasia) in four hours forty minutes.
• Friday 11 April 2008 in Dubai (Asia) in four hours fifty-five minutes.
• Saturday 12 April 2008 in Tunis (Africa) in four hours and forty minutes.
• Sunday 13 April 2008 in London (Europe) in five hours and twenty minutes.

Since the challenge, in which Dave raised £50,000 for Guide Dogs, he has been given numerous awards and accolades and recently had a guide dog puppy named after him – Dave!

The inspiration behind 51-year-old Dave’s challenge was the life-changing mobility and independence he has received for over 10 years from three loyal and dedicated guide dogs; Peter, Carla and currently Wicksie.

During the challenge Dave ran a total distance of 183.4 miles in approximately 168 hours, taking over 250,000 steps to prove that sight loss is no barrier to human achievement and raise money for Guide Dogs. The team spent over 70 hours flying around the world, took over 25,000 running strides, and took on approx. 1600 calories during each marathon (6000 calories per day).

Dave has been registered blind for the past 20 years through Retinitis Pigmentosa, and so wasn’t able to see the routes and supporters around the world and relied totally on Malcolm to describe the environments and location in which they were running. The challenge was far beyond the capabilities of most people, as Dave and Malcolm smashed through pain barriers, time zones and jet lag to complete the amazing challenge.

Dave explains the inspiration behind undertaking this ultimate in endurance:

“Having suffered sight loss, I know how terrifying life can seem but I have been fortunate enough to have had my life transformed by guide dog ownership. I have gone from being to nervous to step outside my own front door to completing the challenge of running a marathon on every continent on the globe – and that is all thanks to Guide Dogs.                                     

“If by raising awareness of the immeasurable impact guide dogs can have on the life of a visually impaired person, and if one more person as a result benefits from the life-transforming independence that a guide dog provides, than this challenge was worth every step of the way.”