Salisbury sports therapist to run deaf and blind for 24 hours

A sports therapist from Old Sarum is going to run for 24 hours in a blindfold and wearing hearing protection on behalf of Wiltshire's children's hospice.

Alex Bance is taking on the challenge to raise funds for Julia's House on 7th-8th October around the track at South Wilts Grammar School in Salisbury.

Alex has done 24 hour runs in the past for the charity, but said repeating the efforts had led to less funds being raised.

"I was out on a run and I was thinking to myself 'I have to do something different slightly different if people are going to sponsor me for it."

Alex took inspiration from the hospice and the work they do with children who have life-limiting conditions.

With the deaf and blind children leaving a lasting impression on him, Alex decided to take inspiration from them - leading to the challenge he's taking on now.

He told us that had he thought about the challenge rationally for five minutes, he wouldn't be doing it.

"As soon as I finished my run, I rang up Julia's House and told them about the idea.

"That committed me to it before I had time to think."

'It's like being underwater'

In an hour-long test run, Alex has used string attached to poles around the track. He told us what he'd learnt from it.

"A glove is definitely needed and I need to do something about the poles as I shredded my hand on the poles as I went round."

Alex described the sensation of taking away his sight and sound senses as 'like being underwater', saying it made him hesitant at every step.

"I only did three miles in the hour," he told Greatest Hits Radio, "the guy watching me said I was very slow to begin with but as I got more confident, my speed increased."

Alex said he did lose the string on a couple of occasions, but that was good practice.

And of course, Alex will need refreshments, which he's accounted for by having a triple post at the start-finish point with a table of food and drink to his right-hand side.

World Record attempt

Alex's charity fundraising efforts also have a personal aim for him, in the shape of a Guinness World Record attempt.

"Weirdly, no one's done this before!" Alex said, who added that his offer of furthest distance run deaf and blind was dismissed by the organisation.

But, they did say he could attempt to break the record for the furthest distance travelled in a blindfold, which currently stands at 80km (50 miles).

However, without an official adjudicator, Alex has recruited a group of people to self-evidence his attempt.

And while Alex says achieving a world record would be 'amazing', he said it's more about setting an example to his two sons that you can achieve anything if you set your mind to it.

We can support Alex's efforts here.