Boss joins Blind Dave’s monster marathon leg

Blind Dave Heeley’s beast of a challenge in which he will run 10 marathons in 10 days and cycle hundreds of miles is getting the monster support the grueling challenge deserves.

His epic Top2Toe challenge for Macmillan Cancer Support will begin at John O’Groats on August 10 and will finish in Lands End on Friday 19th August. There are 5 Blues, 5 Albion and 5 Villa fans running the Birmingham to Worcester leg with Blind Dave – Marathon 7 of 10 – all raising money to help him reach his fundraising target of £100,000 for Macmillan. One of the Blues supporters participating is Tim Andrews, Managing Director of major graphics giants Hollywood Monster.

The Birmingham to Worcester leg of the 10-marathon challenge, which leaves Victoria Square, Birmingham, on Tuesday 16th August, has been named the Hollywood Monster leg after Managing Director Tim Andrews pledged support and volunteered to join Blind Dave on the challenge.

Tim has set himself a target of raising £10,000 for Macmillan and is looking forward to joining Blind Dave and other local football supporters for the Birmingham to Worcester leg– so there’s likely to be some friendly rivalry and banter. Tim hopes that his suppliers and business partners will show their support by donating generously via his Just Giving page – www.justgiving.com/TheHollywoodMonsterLeg.

Tim said: “I’m really excited to be involved with the Top2Toe challenge and looking forward to joining Blind Dave for part of his epic adventure. I’m so proud that Hollywood Monster has been able to support the event and, in turn, people living with cancer. There’s still a long way to go before I reach my £10,000 target, so please dig deep and help me raise the money for a very worthy cause.

The Runners from Blues, Villa and Albion are all busy raising money for Macmillan through Dave’s EPIC Challenge.

Blind Dave intends to run and cycle almost 1,000 miles in 10 days. This year marks the charity’s 100th anniversary. For a number of personal reasons Dave says he wants to raise awareness as well lots of money.

He said: ”Cancer’s effects touch all of us. I lost both my father and father-in-law, and then lost my last guide dog to cancer. Very recently its terrible consequences hit home again when it claimed the life of a long time friend of over 35 years. Staggeringly, one in three people develop cancer during their lives.  That’s a frightening statistic.”

The journey starts on 10th August – the very birthday in 1884 of the charities founder Douglas Macmillan. To celebrate their 10 decades of support, Dave will complete the grueling journey in just 10 days. Each day will start with a marathon run of 26.2 miles, then a Dawes Tandem Cycle ride to the next destination – an average of 75 miles each day.

Steve Dourass, Area Fundraising Manager at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “The support, effort and commitment that people like Tim and Hollywood Monster is contributing to the challenge is incredible. Not only is Tim raising £10,000 for those living with cancer, but also the provision of crucial merchandise for the Top2Toe challenge too. Support such as this is inspiring and the reason we can all make that difference to people’s lives. We are hoping to raise over £25,000 from this leg alone and want to thank everyone who is contributing to the Challenge from top2toe!”

To find out more about Macmillan, visit www.macmillan.org.uk or call the local fundraising office on 0121 742 6393.

Visit Blind Dave’s Challenge website – www.blinddaveheeley.co.uk/top2toe There will very soon be details of a Challenge APP – and how to download it free.