Haines crosses line in 3rd hospice marathon race

(CNS): In what is turning out to be an amazing challenge for the local veteran marathon runner, Derek Haines finished his third marathon of the year this weekend in Spain. Haines crossed the finish line in the debut Pamplona marathon which he ran with his daughter Lizzy in a l4 hours, 12 minutes. Although Haines was recovering from a cold and found this marathon tough, having his daughter by his side, who also happens to be a doctor, he kept on going and finished marathon number three in his six race challenge to raise $1million to build an impatient care facility for the local hospice.

Talking about the race Haines said: "Lizzy and I collected our running bibs on Saturday morning and were made very welcome. Our photographs were taken and used in an article in the local paper on Sunday morning. Race time came all too soon and we set off with a firm breeze blowing. The remnants of my head and chest cold played havoc for the first 10 miles with breathing painful and difficult. Doc. Lizzy was quite concerned but kept a morale boosting banter going as I thought that our pace was slow," he said.

Nestling at 1600 feet in the foothills of the Pyrenees, Haines said that Pamplona is a beautiful city .

"The course was mildly undulating but very pretty as it took us by the sites of the city and looped into the surrounding countryside with a long stretch by the river. At 12 miles I was hit by Montezuma's revenge. After that we got into a better pace and started to overtake. Our halfway was slow at 2.07 but we were never overtaken after that and moved up the places. Darkness brought drizzle and I felt the cold but we kept it going with good support from the locals and our support team who made it to several places on the route.

"The last 5 miles called for strength from the depths but with great encouragement from Lizzy and the crowds the historic Bullring came into view and we finished in 4.12,"he added.

With the pledged total running at close to $600,000 at the half way point there are high hopes that the figure will soar towards the million in the coming weeks after both of Cayman’s local telecom market leaders have created a way for cell phone customers to donate money directly to the cause by texting ‘Derek’ to GIVE (4483) to donate $5.

With the Spanish marathon behind him the 65 year old veteran distance runnerwill get just a few weeks rest before he will be pounding the pavement in San Francisco on 27 July for another gruelling 26 plus mile race. 

For more information and to make a donation go to www.six4hospice.com