A blind Cumbrian veteran has completed a tough 850-mile run across the UK.
Darren Blanks, 37, of Egremont, has successfully run from Land’s End to John O’Groats in just 28 days – running up to 30 miles a day to reach his goal.
It is now believed Darren has become the first registered blind person to successfully complete the challenge.
He said: “In the last three or four days you could tell things were starting to build to the finish, so things were getting emotional for me and every time I got emotional, so did the team.
“The whole thing went much better than I expected, but it wasn’t just about the running, it was spending time with people and bringing new people on the journey with me and seeing different places in the UK.
“But I finished running at 2 o’clock on Thursday and was still in my running gear till 11pm. Twelve of us, including my partner Helen, my mam and her partner and my main support organiser Andy had a meal at the end and I’ve been out in my local in Egremont to celebrate a couple of times since.”
Darren’s run across the UK also saw him raise over £18,000 for the Visually Impaired Veterans Ski Club – a sports club that has had a hugely positive impact on his life.
The club has been operating for over 45 years and gives veterans with visual impairments the chance to enjoy a week of skiing or snowboarding each year.
While Darren smashed the challenge, he faced issues while out on the road, including battling through injuries and obstacles.
He said: “Running through Edinburgh was the toughest challenge for me vision wise as every curb, lamppost, pedestrian, wheelchair and pram is an obstacle and the weather was bad, so that was mentally one of my toughest days with my vision and hearing loss.
“For the first three days I was running off adrenaline and I eventually found routine with it, but when things got hard it was messages from home and having Helen on the ground with me that helped, as well as meeting different people on the ground and hearing different stories of the people I talked to.”
Darren said he also received a huge amount of support while out on the road which helped keep his motivation and spirits high.
He said: “Every now and then something little would happen that helped me get through. There was a little cafe in Scotland in Aviemore, and it was one of the spots where the owner said to me I could have coffee or food on the house.
“A woman who I’d never met walked up and said can I give you a hug and well done for what you’re doing, my son’s got a disability and I’m going to tell him about you. Things like that really helped my keep going.
“Seeing messages from people I didn’t know helped too. Helen would say have you seen this message you’ve got and people putting money on the JustGiving page.
“Obviously the value of the money isn’t important, but one message was along the lines of ‘my husband’s deaf, he thought he had nothing to do in life and now he’s read this he’s gonna start doing more’.
“We also stopped one day and there was a woman in her late 70s or early 80s out with her stick and she said she was just starting to go blind in one eye and she got her phone out and took a picture with me, so finishing with that at the end of a day gave you the motivation for the next day.”
While Darren is still enjoying the moment, he is also planning to take on another big challenge in the coming years.
He said: “It’s been fantastic awareness for the ski club and what people can achieve with vision and hearing loss.
“For me, mentally and physically I’ve learnt I’m tougher than I thought. Towards the end I actually felt fitter and it made me realise I could do similar stuff in the future.
“I’ve always thought since having my brain tumour removal, meningitis and vision and hearing loss that I’m grateful to still have opportunities to do these things.
“I started out with the London Marathon, did some marathons abroad, skiing and now this and after all my health problems I am still thankful to do these things.
“That’s my biggest message is that no matter what life throws at you, make the most of every opportunity, because some people don’t get that chance.”
You can still donate to Darren’s fundraiser by clicking here.
