Blind Brit to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days 英視障跑者挑戰「七七七」馬拉松比賽

Blind marathon runner Dave Heeley, left, and his running partner Malcolm Carr in West Bromwich, central England on Feb. 21, 2008. 視障馬拉松跑者戴夫．希禮（左）和他的陪跑員馬康．卡爾，上個月二十一日攝於英國中部的西布羅米奇。　 照片：歐新社 PHOTO: EPA

A blind British man is going to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. He's doing the feat to raise money for guide dogs for the blind.

Dave Heeley, 50, will start on the Falkland Islands on April 7. After the first marathon, he'll fly to Santiago, Chile, for the second marathon.

Heeley will then run marathons in Los Angeles, Sydney, Dubai and Tunis. The last marathon he'll do is the London Marathon on April 13. His running guide, Malcolm "Mad Mac" Carr, will go with him.

Heeley was born with an eye disease. He lost his sight completely at 16, ending his keen interest in running.

But he began competing again at the age of 40. He started again to raise money for guide dogs for the blind. Sponsors have already pledged about £1 million (NT$61 million) for the seven-marathon challenge.

Heeley's own guide dog will not be making the trip.

"When I told him about what I was planning, he said 'blow that'."

(STAFF WRITER, WITH AFP)

一位英籍視障男子將於七天內在七大洲跑七場馬拉松；他挑戰此壯舉是為了替導盲犬募款。

五十歲的戴夫．希禮將在四月七日，自福克蘭群島啟程。完成第一場馬拉松賽後，他計畫飛到智利的聖地牙哥，參加第二場比賽。

希禮接下來還要到洛杉磯、雪梨、杜拜和突尼斯參賽，最後在四月十三日返英參加倫敦馬拉松賽。綽號「瘋狂麥克」的陪跑教練馬康．卡爾將會全程陪同。

希禮出生就患有眼疾，十六歲時完全失明，迫使他放棄了熱愛的慢跑運動。

但他在四十歲時，為了替導盲犬籌款，又開始參加比賽。這次「七七七馬拉松賽」挑戰的各界贊助金額，已達約一百萬英鎊（新台幣六千一百萬元）。

希禮的導盲犬將不會同行。

「當我告訴牠我的計畫時，牠說：『少吹牛了』。」

（法新社／翻譯：袁星塵）

Today's Words 今日單字 1. blind adj. 盲的 (mang2 de5) 例: Harriet has a blind cat. (哈麗葉有一隻失明的貓咪。) 2. marathon n. 馬拉松 (ma3 la1 song1) 例: Have you ever run a marathon? (你有參加過馬拉松賽跑嗎？) 3. guide dog n. 導盲犬 (dao3 mang2 quan3) 例: My sister trains guide dogs. (我姊姊的工作是訓練導盲犬。) 4. sponsor n. 贊助者 (zan4 zhu4 zhe3) 例: Jed's baseball team is looking for a sponsor. (杰德的棒球隊正在尋求贊助者。)