Chris conquers marathon challenge

Congratulations to everyone from the Uckfield and Crowborough area who were among the 40,000 runners who completed this year’s London Marathon.

One of those runners for whom the London Marathon was a particular challenge was Chris Baily from Uckfield, who was taking part in his first marathon.  Chris has an incurable eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), which affects issues such as night blindness and tunnel vision.  Chris ran alongside his guide Sam Kedwards, using a ‘tether’ which takes the form of a piece of material with a loop at each end attached to the wrist.  Sam - like Chris, a member of the Uckfield Runners club - is an experienced marathon runner, although this was her first London Marathon.  7

Chris and Sam safely negotiated the 26.2 mile course in four hours 53 minutes, inside their target time of five hours. 

To date, Chris has raised over £1,000 for the Retina UK charity, which supports people with inherited sight loss and funds

pioneering research to find treatments and cures for RP.      

Chris now has the ‘running bug’ and has aspirations to take part in other profile marathons, including New York and Tokyo.  In the meantime, he will continue his other sporting interest in visually impaired tennis, in which he won several national and international championships in recent years.

Well done again to Chris and Sam!

You can listen to Chris Baily’s interview with David Eggleston just before the Marathon by clicking on this link: https://www.ashdownradio.com/player/on-demand/items/chris-baily/