Jack Davey goes viral on TikTok as he raises £6.8k for RNIB by running the London Marathon
The video shared by Jack's sister of his marathon went viral in October and has now received more than 100,000 views on TikTok.
Jack, age 31, lives in Kent and works as a software engineer. He was born with Septo-Optic Dysplasia and has very limited sight in both eyes.
“I wanted to raise money to help people like myself to be more independent. I’ve always been active and aspired to run the London Marathon,” Jack explains. “I work out regularly with my personal trainer Joe, who was my guide runner for the marathon.
“The whole experience defied my expectations. Due to having Asperger’s Syndrome, I’m quite shy and can find socialising quite challenging. So, to take part in the London Marathon - and raise money for a charity that helps people like me - was such a momentous thing.”
Taking on the marathon
“It was exhilarating to hear so much cheering from the crowd. Having only ever trained on a treadmill, the most challenging part of the marathon was running in a busy environment outside. At the 16-mile mark, I had a problem with one of my calf muscles, it was at that point that I worried I might not be able to finish. But I did it.”
Social media success
“My sister posted a video of me completing the marathon with my guide runner and it received such a positive response. I could hardly believe the number of people who watched and commented on it, saying how inspirational it was for them.
“If I’ve inspired other partially sighted people to take up running, then that’s an amazing idea. I hope that documenting my experiences of running the marathon shines a positive light on visually impaired people and demonstrates that they can achieve whatever they set their mind on. I’m seriously toying with the idea of running the marathon again in a couple of years’ time.”
