On the 6 August, James Utting took on a Guinness World Record attempt by running a half marathon in high heels to raise funds for the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust – the only charity in the UK charity dedicated to fighting retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer that affects babies and young children, mainly under the age of six.
James, from Knebworth, Hertfordshire, was inspired to organise the event after hearing a radio interview about the work of the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust. James says, “ It just broke my heart thinking that such young children have to go through this ordeal, it must be so tough for the parents as well to manage the situation and the mental aspects must be so hard to navigate.”
James adds, “The challenge was a half marathon taking place at Dorney Lake in Windsor – it’s the 2012 Olympic Games rowing lake. I have completed a lot of runs in my time from half marathons, marathons, Ironman events and multi-day desert events and just thought that wearing high heels would make a half marathon that bit tougher, and therefore worthy of trying to raise some sponsorship. Having investigated, there also wasn’t a world record for the fastest half marathon in heels for a male, (I know why now…) so thought it would be great to tie the two together for a worthwhile cause.”
James has opted for leopard print high heels, which had to be approved in advance. James explains, “The Guinness World Records are quite specific in the criteria for world records, so I ended up having to go for some off-the-shelf shoes as most ‘specialist men’s high heels’ were either platform shoes, incredibly high or had open toes. One of the criteria is that the point at the front mustn’t be greater than 1.5cm, closed toes and pointy.”
James adds, “The feet have been awful, every week I am having to perform some blister surgery just so that my feet can heal in time for my next training run. They heal after a few days so in the grand scheme of things, it’s not so bad. I have been running around my local streets and my wife has been warning the local community via social media that they may see me plodding the streets. I get a lot of bibs and waves which is all really lovely.”
James said that making the challenge a record-breaking attempt has helped to inspire him to keep going.
James explains, “It’s a funny little journey and makes you really accountable to yourself and all those around you once they know what you are hoping to do. Raising money for a charity at the same time also provides you with additional support from the charity itself, something that they are experts in. It’s a wonderful way to be part of a caring team.”
James added, “Thank you all for the generous donations and continual support. The run was interesting, the flat course was nicer to the feet that all the training runs but have to admit that by mile 9 things were getting a tad sore.. Finish time was 2:01:51, very pleased with that!”.
James, who has already surpassed his £3,000 target, is aiming to raise as much as he can for the important work of the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust. Around 98% of children will survive retinoblastoma in the UK but early diagnosis is crucial in order to save a child’s eyes, sight and life. Around 50% of children diagnosed will have an eye removed to stop the cancer from spreading.
Richard Ashton, CEO at the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust, said: “In the UK, around one child each week is diagnosed with this devastating cancer. We offer support to every UK family affected, as well as campaign to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms and fund research into its prevention and treatment.
“We are extremely grateful for all that our fundraisers do, to help fund our work. We don’t receive any government funding so we rely on the generosity of supporters like James. We are incredibly grateful to him – and proud that he has chosen such a fantastic challenge! We wish him all the best with his Guinness World Record attempt, too!”.
To sponsor James, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/james-utting-high-heel-half?utm_term=RPg7xzQQE