Justin’s marathon commitment to FitzRoy
David Allum( High Sherrif of Sussex), Justin Bailly and Graham Amey (Mayor of Newhaven) during Justin's visit to Newhaven Services
Justin Bailly, a personal trainer from Brighton, will run the 26.2 miles of the Brighton Marathon on 14th April 2013 in a bid to raise £2,0000 for FitzRoy, a leading charity which supports adults with disabilities.
Justin has chosen to support FitzRoy after hearing how FitzRoy transforms lives from his long-standing client, Deborah Bedford who regularly fundraises for FitzRoy in East Sussex.
Justin has run one marathon previously in Edinburgh “I was a little unsure about doing another one, but when I found out it was to raise money for FitzRoy, I just couldn’t resist” he explained.
Deborah took him to visit a service in Newhaven to meet some of the people he could be running for, and “after seeing them and talking to them I felt even more determined to run and raise as much money for them as possible” Justin explained. “I even asked a couple of the guys to join me – but for some reason they didn’t seem too keen!” he joked.
FitzRoy supports people to live more independently at home and in the community, and uses fundraised income to help people achieve this. Recent donations have helped to improve facilities such as bathrooms at FitzRoy’s Newhaven Service, but more donations are needed to enable the charity to develop the facilities at the day and community service so that people who attend can develop skills in the kitchen and be able to support themselves.
As a personal trainer, you could be forgiven for thinking Justin is ‘match-fit’ for a marathon already, but he explains that he’s had to adopt a new training regime to prepare for the race. “I’ve had to do a lot more specific training, particularly long distance running to prepare” he explains “It’s time consuming but you have to make sure you train properly so you don’t fall apart after the event! I’ve been increasing my long runs and have had to put in a bit of extra time in the gym too”.
Support Justin’s marathon challenge to raise £2,000 for FitzRoy by donating online via his Just Giving Page or making a donation to FitzRoy referencing Justin’s run.