'˜I will succeed' says fundraising runner

A TOUGH IT consultant is more than halfway through an incredible 160 mile charity challenge.
RUNNING Dave Rodrigues during a marathon. Picture Ian BurnettRUNNING Dave Rodrigues during a marathon. Picture Ian Burnett
RUNNING Dave Rodrigues during a marathon. Picture Ian Burnett

Dave Rodrigues, 42, from Southsea, is competing is 22 races to raise money for DEBRA, a charity that supports families affected by epidermolysis bullosa (EB) – a painful blistering skin condition.

Dave was inspired to take up the challenge by two children he knows who both suffer from EB.

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So far he has taken part APL RAFFLES in the Great South Run, Stubbington 10k and Portsmouth Coastal Half Marathon.

In total, all the runs will add up to more than 160 miles.

He explained: ‘It is quite hard to find a way of getting people to understand my motivation behind all of this.

‘Basically, I try to undertake some sort of challenge every 12 to 18 months. Last year I agreed to do a couple of races and it seemed to spiral from there.

‘I just kept finding races that I have never done before and it slowly turned into this.’

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Dave is currently just over halfway through the challenge, having completed 15 of the 22 races.

He is also more than halfway to his target of raising £2,000 for the charity.

‘Initially the target was to raise £1,500’, said Dave.

‘But it soon became clear that I would be able to raise much more than that.

‘Some months there are more races than others, so my schedule can be quite varied.

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‘For example, I have two in successive weekends coming up. I relish a challenge but that is definitely going to be quite tough.’

Dave has raised £1,232 so far. If you would like to donate to his fundraising drive, go to justgiving.com/RodriguesDuathlon

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