Haines takes another marathon in his stride

(CNS): In an amazing performance Derek Haines stormed to the finish line at the San Francisco marathon on Sunday in a fraction over four hours. The veteran runner has now pounded the pavement in four different cities in order to raise $1million for the local hospice charity to help them build a much needed inpatient facility. Following the fourth of his targeted six marathons in one year, Haines now has over $640,000 pledged towards the target. With the Dublin marathon in October and the home run in Cayman in December, what was a hefty looking target for the charity at the beginning of the year is looking more and more possible, as Haines at 65 years of age is tackling the marathons with style.

Speaking about the weekend run, Haines told CNS that it went very well and he was pleased with his time of 04:00:42, which he said was down to a fast second half.

"It is a picturesque course, although hilly, with great views including running over and back across the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather was perfect so that helped a great deal also. Rotary Club of Grand Cayman President Brian Hurley and Rotarian Tim Bradley ran creditable half marathons and it was great to have them and Tim's family there in support," Haines said. "The marathon and half marathon entries were completely full so there was a big field of runners. I finished in the top 25% and was 6th in my age group," he added.

Having met up with an old friend from the Cayman Islands who now lives in San Francisco, while he was in the City, Haines said he was taken on a boating tour of the Bay on Monday and his friend handed over another CI$1K for the challenge.

In addition, Haines said, just this week he was handed another generous donation from some local businessmen, who wish to remain anonymous, of US$25K.

"This is excellent news and brings the total pledged/donated to about CI$640K," the veteran runner said. "I wish to thank all of those who are supporting the cause. It really is tremendous how the Cayman community have responded to this challenge."

Anyone wishing to pledge towards the cause can visit six4hospice.com to find out how and more about Haines' amazing marathon challenge  

Photo: Ciara Bradley, Tim Bradley, Derek Haines, Brian Hurley, Kayla Bradley. Photo by Traci Bradley