Meet our London Marathon team!

Alistair is joining the team from Guernsey! Alistair has supported Fight for Sight in the past through a friend who completed a cycle challenge with profound sight loss. He was inspired by his friends determination and courage to sign up for the marathon, and raise funds for research into some of the leading causes of sight loss that run in his family – macular degeneration and glaucoma.

You can sponsor Alistair’s London Marathon challenge here.

Ben is joining our amazing marathon team all the way from the USA! As a keen runner, he was inspired to run in aid of Fight for Sight by many friends affected by glaucoma and AMD. His training is already well underway despite the late summer heat!

You can sponsor Ben’s London Marathon challenge here.

Ashley and Callum from D I Blow Opticians have taken on the incredible challenge of running the London Marathon!

The independent, family run Opticians has been in operation providing professional eye care to thousands of patients across the East Midlands.

“The business is entering the third generation of ownership within the Blow family, and we believe it would be perfect to start the next chapter by challenging ourselves to such a wonderful cause and honouring the thousands of patients we treat across the country.”

Courteney’s grandad suffered with macular dystrophy resulting in eventual sight loss, and since losing him, she and her father have also been diagnosed with the condition.

Sadly, her father has now had to give up driving due to his declining sight and Courteney has chosen to take on the incredible challenge of running the prestigious London Marathon for her and her family, to help us fight for a brighter future.

You can sponsor Courteney’s London Marathon challenge here.

2024 runner, Elanamaria, shares her motivation for taking on the challenge:

“Everyone deserves to have sight and to live a fulfilled life. Charities like Fight for Sight help those that are affected at any change to find research solutions to aid those that this has impacted. I would love to be part of a charity to help those be able to regain their sight, or receive a treatment to ensure they experience life to their fullest.”

Georgia and Jake are getting ready to run the London Marathon together in 2024 to raise vital funds for Stargardt research in support of the Roberts Family Fund. They set out to prove that anybody can make a difference and do something amazing.

“My daughter is a student at Terry Jayne School of Dance and Tina’s daughter, Rose has helped and taught my daughter in dance. She is an inspiration, and I couldn’t think of anyone else I would love to help!”

You can sponsor Georgia and Jake’s London Marathon challenge here.

2024 runner, Gerard, shares his motivation for taking on the challenge:

“I have been a consultant eye surgeon for 17 years and involved in eye care for 26 years. My specialist interests are in orneal disease and glaucoma. Every working day, I see people who are dealing with sight loss. In my time I have seen how research has translated into clinical treatments which has now become routine practice. Research is therefore invaluable.

For those that know me, you will be aware what a challenge this will be for me! I am running the London Marathon for Fight for Sight as I want to help develop the future treatments to turn untreatable blindness into preventable sight loss and help preserve patients vision.

I would be really grateful for your help in raising as much as possible to help prevent sight loss and “Fight for Sight”!”

You can sponsor Gerard’s London Marathon challenge here.

Hannah is running the marathon for her fiancé. Raising vital funds for choroideremia research in honour of her partner, she even plans to ask for donations at their wedding!

Congratulate the happy couple by sponsoring Hannah’s London Marathon challenge here.

Jake is running for his Mum who has suffered with macular degeneration for the last 15 years.

“She’s always been my No.1 supporter and it’s now time to show her that I’m hers too. I’ve always helped her through the tough days, and I feel that my motivation to make her proud and raise as much money as I can for an amazing charity will drive me to do my best.”

John was diagnosed with glaucoma 6 years ago. After undergoing many treatments and procedures, he was able to retain the sight in his left eye, but his right remains extremely blurred and foggy. Since running the Great North Run in 2022, he decided to up the ante and take on the London Marathon to help fund vital scientific research that could help him and the 2 million others affected by sight loss in the UK.

You can sponsor John’s London Marathon challenge here.

Joshua is running for his granny who has wet macular degeneration.

“It’s been hard for me and the family seeing my granny’s sight loss. Despite all this she remains positive in the face of her adversity and finds ways of dealing with her new life. I am very proud of how my granny has dealt with her situation and she constantly provides me with a great source of inspiration.

Ultimately, running the London marathon and raising money for fight for sight is something I want to do for my granny. You do not get many opportunities in life to show your loved ones how much they mean to you and this commitment is the perfect way to show that to her.”

You can sponsor Josh’s London Marathon challenge here.

Lauren was diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension when she was 12 and has had to undergo multiple surgeries to preserve her vision. She greatly appreciates the support from doctors and friends over the years. As a passionate runner, Lauren has undertaken the fantastic challenge of running the London Marathon in 2024. Before that, she even plans to run the Chicago Marathon in 2023!

“I dealt with double vision and temporarily lost areas in my visual field twice over the years. At the points where I was not as independent, I craved the outlet that running provided me. Once I could run again, I became a guide and mentor with an organisation called Achilles International.”

You can sponsor Lauren’s London Marathon challenge here.

Louise is running the London Marathon in aid of her friend and colleague who is a member of one of our family funds: Team G Singh. Knowing the family, Louise wants to raise funds that could mean a brighter future for the Singh family and further investment into choroideremia research. In a show of true friendship, Louise will be running the 26.2 mile London Marathon for Fight for Sight and Vision Foundation.

You can sponsor Louise’s London Marathon challenge here.

Nicolas has completed 13 half marathons including the Vitality Big Half for Vision Foundation in 2022, but has always wanted to run the London Marathon!

He was awarded the British Citizen Award for services to volunteering and charitable giving at Westminster. We can’t wait to cheer him on across the finish line at Pall Mall next April!

Paul’s family has a history of glaucoma and macular degeneration which spurred him to not only complete a PhD in inherited retinal diseases, but also to run the London Marathon to raise funds for sight saving research!

“Without the support from the charity I received, I would not have had the opportunity to complete my PhD, so I would like to offer my support for future researchers to have the same chance I did.”

Sara is a researcher at the UCL institute of Ophthalmology where many projects have been funded by Fight for Sight. As a woman researching genetic blindness in a healthcare environment, she knows how much time, effort and money goes into vital scientific research.

Sara is running to not only raise awareness of the importance of research, but to support her friends and colleagues in their work and give hope to those affected by a visual impairment.

“Every day we take steps to get closer to finding disease mechanisms, identifying new patients and designing new therapeutic agents.”

You can sponsor Sara’s London Marathon challenge here.

Tom ran the London Marathon in 2019 for Vision Foundation and is back again for a personal best! His training has already started, even clocking in a few miles while on holiday! We can’t wait to see that dedication pay off on race day.

You can sponsor Tom’s London Marathon challenge here.

Seth has been working as the assistant of Laura Jones, a Musician with Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy. Seeing her endeavour through such challenging circumstances acts as an ever-flowing fountain of inspiration for Seth. He is running the London Marathon to honour her, and everyone else facing the challenges of sight loss in the UK.

You can sponsor Seth’s London Marathon challenge here.

Liz is a self-confessed running addict and loves running with friends, in the fresh air, staying fit and having fun.

“I have run the London Marathon twice before & loved it. This time I’m going to run with a dear friend of mine, we are going to train & fund raise together. We are honoured to run for “fight for sight” and my niece who has some vision loss is so excited for us.”

Sponsor Liz and Pete here!

It’s been a long term goal of Zoe’s, a bucket list item even, to run the London Marathon. Zoe is running as part of Team Tommy raising vital funds for research into Choroideremia with the Tommy Salisbury Family Fund.

“Tommy is a valued friend of mine so supporting a cause close to his heart means a lot to me too!”

Sponsor Zoe here!