Centennial Parklands welcomes International Blind Runner

1 April 2008

The Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust is pleased to support the Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and welcome Dave Heeley to the Parklands for the Australian leg of his incredible journey.

Excitement is building in Sydney as Guide Dogs NSW/ACT prepares to host the fourth leg of Dave Heeley’s global, Seven Magnificent Marathons challenge on Thursday 10 April 2008.

Heeley, or ‘Blind Dave’ as he likes to be known, and his sighted running guide Malcolm Carr are preparing to make history and demonstrate that vision impairment is no barrier to feats of greatness. The pair will run seven marathons in seven countries over seven days and will have already completed the Falkland Islands, South America and North America before landing in Sydney.

The Sydney marathon will see the team complete a classic 42.195km run in Centennial Park, commencing at 8.30am and finishing at 2pm. Dave will only be in Australia for a total of 15 hours.

If successful in completing all seven marathons Heeley, who is 50, will become the first blind person to ever complete seven marathons, on seven continents, in seven days. The British sighted adventurers Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr Mike Stroud are the only other people to have completed this ultimate endurance test. 

Fiennes says "As one of only two people to have completed seven marathons in seven days on seven continents, I can tell you that it is perhaps the ultimate in physical endurance.    

“Dave's inspirational Seven Magnificent Marathons global challenge for Guide Dogs is made all the more extraordinary by the fact that he’s blind – further pushing the boundaries of human endeavour.”

Guide Dogs NSW/ACT instructor and participating marathon runner Doug Ritchie said “This is a courageous challenge and we intend to support Dave completely as he makes history in order to raise awareness for people who are vision impaired.

“Dave is an incredible person and I am sure that his strong determination and courage will inspire many Australians with vision impairment to continue pushing boundaries and living their own dreams” continued Ritchie.

Marathon runners, including those from the Achilles Running Club will be participating on the day and other runners are also encouraged to join the team in completing one or several laps, offering their support and motivation to get Dave and Malcolm through the fourth leg.

“Having an army of supporters to run alongside me in Sydney on the fourth leg of my Seven Magnificent Marathons will make such an enormous difference.  I will carry every single person that joins me for the 26-miles of the route in my heart, as I prove to the world that sight loss is no barrier to independence and human achievement” said Heeley.

Further information

For more information about the Seven Magnificent Marathons visit: www.guidedogs.com.au

Contact: Natasha Webb

Phone: 0413 753 241 or nwebb@guidedogs.com.au