Roger backhouse
Roger's blind as a bat marathon
Fundraising for Retina UK
Story
25/04/10
WE DID IT
What an amazing day. We started right at the back amongst all the Banana men, Rhinos, Tigers and even some people on skis! We came in under 6 hours and managed to beat the Wombles! We did a good time for the first half marathon but then the injuries surfaced and we had to walk mile 15 to 21! Painkillers and a massage helped us grit our teeth and run the final 5 miles with huge support from all the amazing people who came to watch and cheer us on. Jazz bands, drummers, dancers, all entertained us along the route along with a runner dressed as Elvis with music playing from a tape recorder strapped to his back. Jelly babies, Jaffa cakes and even the offer of a cheese sandwich kept fuel levels up. This really was a very emotional day and one to remember We could not have done this without the very generous support from family friends and colleagues We have raised over £100,000 for RP Fighting Blindness so for those of you who have kindly donated to our website www.justgiving.com/blindasabat you are amazing. For those of you who were waiting for us to finish (and possibly even to see if we survived!) now is a great time to make your donation as our website is still open! A huge thank you from both Roger and Oliver, and from RP Fighting Blindness23/04/19
As we head off to Sundays race on the hottest day of the year so far, Oliver and I are delighted to let you all know that we have exceeded our revused target thanks to all your generous support, We have raised over £77,500
Bring on the run!!
22/04'10
Marathon man is back in the UK! Sunday still looks a s if it will go ahead
20/04/10
Have just been told our flight back tonight has been cancelled! Back up plans are being drawn up to do the alt London Marathon here in New York. Not sure a solo run around Central Park 4 times quite has the same feel
18/04/10
Oh dear here i am stuck in New York! I am now an official jogger, having yesterday jogged around Cenral park. Hope i can make it back in time for next Sunday..........
11/04/10
An interesting week. I have had to have an anti-inflamatory injection into my hip in the hope that this will make me able to Walk/Jog on 25th. I should know by the middle of next week
I head off to Canada / USA know ing that we have reached £72,500 of our £75,000 target which is amazing
Thanks so much, your continued support has helped to keep me going over the past few weeks
04/04/10
Training is limited to workouts in the gym and long walks while i wait for my hip to settle down!
On the positive side Oliver and I have, thanks to all your amazing support, reached £70,000! This does not include any Gift Aid tax reclaimed by the charity.
Thank you all so much, Oliver and I are overwhelmed by your continued support and generosity.
28/03/10
Sadly the first week this year i have not been able to fit in a run. This is however due to injury. I am having to have an MRI scan to see what the problem is!!
With now only 4 weeks to go the 2 week setback is a real pain but I will do it, even if it is only a walk!
We had targeted raising £50,000 with our Marathon run, to enable Professor Robin Ali, of Moorfield's Eye Hospital, to purchase the specialist equipment required for his ground breaking research project, due to start in September. We are extremely proud to be able to say that we have achieved this target, thanks to the very generous support of family, friends and colleagues. We are now looking to raise a further £25,000 to fund the ongoing costs of the first year of the research project I hope to have better news for my Easter Sunday update
21/03/10
Your continued support is amazing. Thank you all so much. I do hope that some of you will make the journey to watch us on 25th April. It will be a great day.
Sadly my training has been very limited as i am having a few muscle problems in my right leg. I hope the rest will allow me to get back on the road again next sunday!
Keep Spreadimg the Word!
14/03/10
Came 2644 out of 10,000 in a time of 2h 0m and 54 seconds in the Adidas London half marathon at Silverstone!
Amazing day and great to run in the sun. I am so glad to have had this experience before next months London Marathon
THANK YOU for all our your fantastic support. I could not have done this without you
10/03/10
Training has been suspended due to a cold! (too many freezing early morning runs) I am still planning on making the Silverstone half marathon this Sunday but.....
THANK YOU all so much for your continuing support
07/03/10
Negotiated a 16 mile run today without too many worries - sun at last, can Spring be here at last!
28/02/10
What a fantastic week. In total Oliver and I have now raised over £58,000 for RP Fighting Blindness thanks to all your amazing support. To make things even better the Sunday Express has published an article promoting Olivers ground breaking retinal lens work up in Yorkshire.
My runs this week have been a little poor, but i did complete my time trial / pacing run today - 10 mins per mile for 8 miles in the rain!
Thanks for all your continued support
22/02/10
We have done it. Oliver and I are so grateful for all your tremendous support.
This now means the project can move ahead and so the more we can now raise, the more we can help.Prof Ali and his team as they stride forward to find a cure.
Please keep spreading the word around your friends and colleagues.
We have recieved the following letter of support from professor Robin Ali
Dear Roger and Oliver
We are very grateful to you both for all your hard work and dedication to supporting our mission. Raising £50,000 for RP research is a fantastic achievement and will help to accelerate the development of effective treatments. The gene therapy approaches that we have developed over the last 15 years are now showing great promise in clinical trials. With your support we will be able to continue and expand our clinical trials and develop these treatments for many different forms of RP. It is a very exciting time and thank you again for helping us to change the future for people with RP.
With very best wishes
Robin Ali
Robin Ali PhD FMedSci
Professor of Human Molecular Genetics and Head of Department
Department of Genetics
UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
Bath St, London EC1V 9EL
21/02.10
Back on the road again and 14 miles completed this morning in 2h30m
We have nearly reached the target - thank you all so much
12/02/10
Words escape me - thank you all so much for your temendous support.. Training is on track (I think) and i have just completed another 12 mile run. To keep "In the Zone" I have entered the Adidas half Marathon on 14th March! Now off to the Alps for a little R and R - not really, just more training.
06/02/10
WOW - all your amazing support has done the trick and today i completed my first half marathon - 13 mies around the Surrey Hills!(have needed the rest of the day to recover!!)
Oliver and I are so gratefull for your support for our cause. Please keep spreading the word around - we are so nearly there
04/02/10
Fantastic we have got to £40,000 - i will have to go and do an extra training session now!
Thank you all so very much, please keep spreading the word around
01/02/10
Another 1h45m run completed yesterday in freezing conditions - this is fun!
I now have the help of a Personal Trainer - Carla Ashford (member of womans GB rowing 8 at Beijing Olympics) from Point2 Fitness to make sure i get to the start in one piece!
Keep spreading the word - our target is getting closer
24/01/10
Training in the snow rain and mud is going well and i have completed two 10 mile runs in the past two weekends.
All your fantastic support has kept me going. A big thank you from me and all at RP Fighting Blindness
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
My brother Oliver, a leading eye surgeon in Leeds, and I are taking part in this years London Marathon, to raise funds for RP Fighting Blindness.
I was 13 when I was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).This has meant not being able to see in the dark, not being able to study Medicine as my planned career, not being able to drive, and knowing that, gradually, I am losing my sight. RP has affected my Grandfather, mother, uncle, first cousin, and will affect future generations. RP is a hereditary, incurable eye disease, that causes tunnel vision, night blindness and in many cases total blindness. RP Fighting Blindness has been set up to raise funds in order to fund research into finding a cure and help thousands of people retain their sight. Happily, research is moving apace and real glimmers of hope are emerging with retinal implants, gene therapy and stem cells. Professor Robin Ali, of Moorfield's , is planning a crucial research project in September. The cost of the specialist equipment required is £50,000. I cannot tell you how proud I will be if money raised by our marathon run ensures that the project is able to get started. It is so exciting to feel that we can, at last, make a real difference. Any donation, however small or large. means so much to this charity and I can assure you that every name that appears on the site is making the training not just bearable but a real joy.
So please dig deep and donate now.