We thought we’d share some news from some of them.
Earlier this week some of the runners gathered on Zoom to hear from our Director, Charlotte Carson, about her own story of starting to lose her sight at the age of 7 and her parents founding LOOK to give support to families like their own.
Expertly moderated by Jo Lomas, Project Support Officer at LOOK, each of the runners introduced themselves and why they are running for LOOK.
There are two visually impaired runners on the team this year – Kombo, one of our LOOK Mentors, who is running with his guide, Warwick. They’re a brilliant pair, from Worthing on the south coast, and we are thrilled that they found each other. If you’re out on the streets of London on Sunday and spot them, please give them a huge shout of support! Go Kombo and Warwick, we’re behind you all the way.
One of the other runners, James, was born with complete blindness in his left eye and partially sight in his right eye. He amazingly heard about LOOK when a regular #TeamLOOK runner, Lawrence, asked him for sponsorship. James was happy to donate, being VI himself, and connected with LOOK. It’s great to have James on the running team this year. James is keen to inspire other VI runners to join #TeamLOOK 2024. More on this to follow, but if you’re reading this and think you might like to give it a go, log your expression of interest here.
We are thrilled to have four experienced and lovely runners join us from a local club, the Malvern Buzzards (read about their marathon runners in the local paper) Marc, Bart, Rupert, and Adam – it is an absolute delight to have you on board!
A huge thank you to Marc for volunteering his time and expertise to do a takeover on our Instagram account in the week leading up to London Marathon. They’ve been brilliant – check out our Instagram.
Huge thanks to BBC Hereford and Worcester for supporting #TeamLOOK, first with a call our to runners (which led to us connecting with the Malvern Buzzards), then with a follow up interview with Charlotte, and then back on air covering the Guide Running session at the Hereford athletics track organised by Adam Dyson and LOOK. Read more about it here (lots of lovely photos too – all with Alt Text).
LOOK was founded in Wales, so we are thrilled that one of our team, Rhys, was featured on the Welsh language S4C. Watch the clip here, with Rhys and his wife speaking from the beach on the beautiful Llyn Peninsula near their home in north Wales.
Our two youngest members of #TeamLOOK, Joe and Joe, are 22 years and 23 (just!) years respectively. Joe – let’s use his full name, Joseff, to avoid confusion – is the nephew of Charlotte. On the Zoom call he said has wanted to find a way to show his own support to LOOK and that he hopes that running the marathon this year is the start of this. We are very proud of Joseff and his mate Joe for taking on this challenge. Joe and Joe have been friends since they were 11 years old. Joe is now in the navy and Joseff is in the middle of his law finals at Bangor University. The North Wales Chronicle ran a piece about Joseff running the London Marathon for LOOK.
Another runner in our #TeamLOOK 2023, Alice, is a teacher at Eden Park Primary and Nursery School. Thank you to the amazing children at this school who collectively jumped a staggering 34,960 ‘Jumping Jacks’ to support Mrs Clayton and raise money for LOOK. They raised more than £1000 to help visually impaired children and young people to thrive. What superstars!
As well as our lovely new runners, it is also great to welcome back several returning runners, some of whom have run London Marathon for LOOK many times. You are AMAZING. We are so grateful to you, and to all the team.
Emma is running her third marathon in seven months for LOOK. One year ago she was not a regular runner. She credits this sticking to a training plan and having a fantastic cause to raise money for. Does this inspire you to have a go?! Fill in an expression of interest form here. This does not commit you to anything, simply allows us to come back to you with more info about what’s involved and how to sign up.
We will be cheering on the runners on the route and are looking forward to welcoming each of our #TeamLOOK runners when they finish, at our welcome party in area L at Horseguard’s Parade. (This area is open to the public, so if you’re reading this and in London on Saturday, but not a runner, pop by and say hello to us. We will be there with the LOOK banners and yellow balloons).
Charlotte, our Director, will be there with her new PA, Hannah, and Charlotte’s sister Brigid who is our photographer for the day. Elin from our Mentor Project Team and her PA Emma will be there, along with Elin’s guide dog, Lucy. Jane, our Parent Support Officer, Becky from our Admin whizz at the Hereford office, as well as Jo, Project Support Officer who has been doing absolutely grand job of looking after our marathon runners. We are also delighted that Andrea, one of our Mentors (and LOOK staff member currently on maternity leave) will be there to give our runners a well-earned leg massage!
If all this making you wish you were running London Marathon for LOOK? Well, you have 12 months to train, prepare, and fundraise. We’d love to have you on board! Do drop us an expression of interest by filling in this form, and we’ll follow up with you.
Alternatively, if you’re very happy you are not running 26 miles this weekend, how about supporting those you are, by making a donation to LOOK. No amount is too small, and all donations are hugely appreciated by our small but mighty charity. Do your bit to help visually impaired young people to thrive by clicking here and sending some good vibes to our amazing marathon runners.
p.s. Check back on Monday where we will post lots of photos and updates from #TeamLOOK at London Marathon 2023.
