What is Run4Joe?

Two years ago very close friends of ours Matthew and Colette Swift gave birth to a beautiful baby boy called Joseph. At first everything seemed perfect and as most parents are, they were over the moon. Then after several months they began to realise that he was not developing properly, he was having a lot of feeding difficulties and was distressed most of the time. After a series of consultations and tests, it was revealed that Joseph had a rare condition called ‘Leukodystrophy’. This is a class of genetic conditions where the body is unable to produce enough (or destroys) the myelin which surrounds the nerves in the central nervous system. Myelin is like the insulation on wires – it stops signals from escaping and short circuiting. Currently there is no known cure or treatment and the disease is progressive and fatal. . The Myelin Project is a charity dedicated to funding the continuing search for a cure into demyelinating diseases.

How did we get involved?

We first met Matt and Colette at The White Oak Triathlon club in 1998 where we trained, raced and socialised together. They also introduced us to the world of cycle racing which is their first love and something we all do on a regular basis now.

Recently Matt went back to triathlon after a break of many years to complete the Ironman Switzerland to raise money for research into finding a cure for Leukodystrophy. He started a web site called Tri4Joe to raise people’s awareness as well as funding for the Myelin Project UK and the European Leukodystrophy Association (ELA)

When Matt first sent us details of what he was doing we thought what else we could do apart from pledging some money for this great cause. We then decided to do our own event and reach out to everyone we know in an effort to raise even more money.

Why the Beachy Head Marathon?

We have all completed road marathons before so we were looking for something a bit different. Steve’s idea of running 26.2 miles all off road climbing up and down the South Downs sounded just right!

Who are we?

I’m Alex Tyrrell. I completed my first marathon in 1998 and have enjoyed running ever since. I now have a young family, two daughters aged four  and one, so as you can imagine time to train is limited!

Steve Blackmore is the best runner among us and has completed many goals most of us can only dream of: ten miles in under the hour, half marathon under one hour twenty minutes and sub three hours for the marathon.

Jane Blackmore is the only one of us who has completed this event before  (in a very respectable time) and is a strong cross country runner.

Kevin Perkins is the 'machine'. He trains and races on a heart rate monitor and he is never out of the 'zone'. Kevin is the only person I know who can sit for three to four hours on an cycling turbo trainer.

Paul Atkinson is a committed runner and triathlete who has completed 5 marathons and 7 consecutive Ironman events.

How can you help?

Beachy Head Marathon is on Saturday 25^th October 2008. Help us to raise awareness of Leukodystrophy and raise money for research into finding a cure so that children like Joseph might be helped or possibly even cured by making a donation via this website.