Wayne's story

Wayne’s London Marathon 2026

( #Wayneslm26 )

“The Wayne Crazy Train takes on The London Marathon 2026”

Challenge & Life Journey

On Sunday 26th April 2026 I will be taking part in the TCS London Marathon - The world’s most popular and largest marathon!!! With an estimated whopping 800,000 people cheering on the competitors on the streets of London and millions across the world watching. It’s a truly unique marathon that I will be participating in and I’ll be fulfilling a lifetime dream!!!

The London Marathon completely challenges my un-curable degenerative eye disease Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). Retinitis Pigmentosa has caused permanent damage to my retina causing significant sight loss and I was registered blind in December 2022. I will not only be fighting against the profound effect of my sight loss, which has left me permanently disabled, but I will also be pushing my physical body to a unknown level of achievement and proudness as I run 26-miles.

I will face considerable challenges when training for the 26-miles of the London Marathon due to my sight loss caused by Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) however I am determined to complete the challenge and road ahead.

A world epic run along the famous streets of London, starting at Greenwich Park and finishes on The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace. My route will take me through various London landmarks, including the Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf and Big Ben.

This challenge is important to me for so many reasons;

Commemorating and supporting my fellow veterans

Blind Veterans UK (the charity I am fundraising for while completing this challenge) has supported many of those Service men and women involved in securing victory for world freedoms. I am proud that the funds I raise while completing this challenge will be used to ensure veterans like them - and all those who followed - will continue to receive life changing support.

A personal milestone

Signing up for this challenge is a testament to how far I have come since beginning my sight loss journey. I was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and Retinal Dystrophy in both eyes in December 2022. For those who are not familiar with these conditions they affect the retina – a light sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eye that sends information to the brain to help us interpret what we see. These conditions progress over time and can affect vision in a number of ways such as night blindness, trouble adjusting to light changes or dim light, trouble seeing colours and narrowed peripheral vision. In short, they stop you from being able to create a clear and exact picture of your surroundings.

A chance to give back

Things were life changing when I first received my diagnosis – I lost my confidence and sense of purpose, and many exterior aspects of my life changed immediately upon walking out of the consultant’s office.

I was in tears; my life turned upside down, not knowing how to digest what I had just been told.

I now knew I had a life changing degenerative eye disease with no cure. I was no longer fit to drive and medically diagnosed blind!!! I just didn’t understand how I would go forward. The life I had been living now required adaptation for the foreseeable future.

Point Zero

The person I had been before now required an adaptive way of going forward into the future – this is what I called “Point Zero Day One! “

The Navy

During my time in the Navy - I served four and a half years as an Able Seaman Warfare Specialist aboard HMS Chatham and HMS Monmouth – I always liked to be fit and particularly enjoyed running. Whilst serving I always had an exemplary fitness level of which I was very proud.

Life Experience with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)

My visual impairment made me feel less confident and safe about taking part in my usual day to day activities and other aspects of my life I enjoyed doing. My fitness training now needed to be adapted and assessed for my confidence to regain its potential.

The usual school run in the car was no longer possible; I now had to find a safe walking route for me and the children for when my wife is at work. I needed to be super observant, more than usual, to which over time since my diagnosis has been progressing at a continual pace.

Everything in my life now had to be reconsidered, which can be difficult and challenging at times and also consuming of my energy. The residual sight I retain centrally overworks itself which can create immense fatigue and stress at times.

But I could not just let life stop upon diagnosis.

Blind Veterans UK

In August 2022 I discovered Blind Veterans UK. This charity provides rehabilitation, training, equipment and support to veterans who are living with sight loss. In the short time I have been part of the organisation I have received support and equipment supporting my running and everyday activities such as specially adapted yellow tinted prescription glasses and assistance finding ways to overcome the difficulties presented by my visual impairment that have helped with everyday tasks I previously took for granted such as walking, running, socialising and everyday home life.

While staying at their Rustington Centre I was asked to share examples of things I would like to achieve that I felt may not be achievable with my sight loss. I shared my dream to take part in the London Marathon and beyond!!!

The wellbeing team offered to support my aspirations by helping me train and prepare for the Worthing 10k (Previous challenge I’ve completed), with a view to me progressing my fitness to take part in the London Marathon with other blind veterans in 2026 and beyond into the future. The team could see how engaging with running was giving me back my confidence, sense of purpose and allowing me to feel like the person I was before sight loss.

I completed the Worthing 10k with great success on the 4th May 2025 to which I have now been allocated my place for the London Marathon 2026 fundraising for the Blind Veterans UK team. We have named my part of this challenge #Wayneslm26.

Blind Veterans UK has in short given me back my independence and freedom to be the person I want to be. As a result, I would like to use my journey, of preparing for and taking on this challenge, as an opportunity to give back to them, in order to ensure others can receive the support I have.

How you can help

I want to help ensure other veterans like me can be supported by Blind Veterans UK for years to come and you can help me do that in the following ways:

- Make a donation via my page – all funds go directly to the charity.

- Share my story by sharing this Just Giving page on your social media channels.

- Follow me on social media and share my posts about my progress and the support I’ve received from Blind Veterans UK to help raise awareness. The charity supports thousands of veterans across the UK – there are thousands more out there who could benefit from their help who may not know they are there for them.

- Get involved! There are lots of ways you can support Blind Veterans UK.

Find out more on their website www.blindveterans.org.uk/support

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.