by Jamie Stephens

Running a half marathon is hard enough in the best of conditions, but try doing one when you can’t actually see anything...

A Thanet soldier has just completed a 13-mile run in Germany blindfolded to raise funds for charity.

Sergeant Simon Lash (Pictured left, courtesy Cpl James Williams RLC), 34, who serves with Germany based 1st Logistics Support Regiment ran the annual race in North German town Gutersloh in a very respectable time of two hours thirty minutes.

In the process he managed to raise £600 for St Dunstan’s, a charity which supports blind and visually impaired ex-Service personnel.

In order to complete the run Simon was dependent on the eyesight of colleague and co-runner Warrant Officer Class Two Lee McAnespie, 36, who ran alongside him giving verbal instructions on which way to turn to avoid bumping into any of his fellow racers.

The former King Ethelbert’s School student, who joined the Army in 1996 and has since served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Northern Ireland, said: “Lee ran to my right without any contact, just giving me verbal instructions – he was basically my eyes.

“It was a case of Lee saying 'straight, straight and then coming up in 50 yards left, slight left etc.

“We started training more than a month before the race. Lee had to practice learning how to talk and run at the same time, which makes it difficult to breathe.

“It was a strange and really unnatural experience for both of us, but we finished the race in a pretty good time despite it being a long distance – we are fairly fit being in the military.

“And one benefit I have really noticed is that my hearing has increased. I could actually hear Lee’s footsteps. I feel like a professional tracker.”

Simon, who also ran the marathon fully sighted last year, came up with the plan to do it visionless this time after a spokesperson for St Dunstan’s visited his regiment last September.

Simon who is married and has three children – twins Bethany and Owen, 13, and Benjamin,7, said: “We all know about Help for Heroes – you hear of great organisations like that all the time but St Dunstan’s is never heard of.

“As soon as we came out of the St Dunstan’s talk I said that we should do the Gutersloh Half marathon blindfolded. People laughed but I insisted that we would do it.

“Running blindfolded is a surreal feeling, I admire anyone who has had to come to terms with losing their sight, and wanted to do something to support St Dunstan’s.”

For more information about Simon and Lee’s blindfolded run and to donate money to St Dunstan’s visit www.justgiving.com/simon-lash or check out their facebook page, Mac and Me.
The Gutersloh Half Marathon, organised by the British Army’s Gutersloh Garrison, took place on Sunday May 15 and was open to both military personnel and the general public.