'Everything about it was just incredible' - Blind Dave Heeley speaks after Great Ethiopian Run
“It was something that I’ll never forget.”
That is how Black Country fundraiser extraordinaire Blind Dave Heeley summed up his experience at the Great Ethiopian Run at an altitude of 8,000 feet.
The 10km run in Addis Ababa was Dave’s 25th – and final – Great Run event of an amazing year.
Dave flew out to the Ethiopian capital last week for his 60th birthday and completed the run alongside his guides Garry Wells and Tony Ellis on Sunday.
And during his trip Dave also met up with Ethiopian distance running legend Haile Gebrselassie, who won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles.
Dave said the experience in Addis Ababa will prove unforgettable and led to an absolute whirlwind of emotions.
He told the Express & Star: “It was fantastic, absolutely brilliant – it was like a carnival.
“There were 44,000 people and they were all maniacs, it was brilliant.
“When you’re running it’s just wall-to-wall noise. It felt like you were running in a tunnel, at one point there was noise coming from every single direction.
“There were bands and people dancing in the streets – everything about it was just incredible.
“It was something that I’ll never forget. I’ve finished all 25 runs now which is amazing. It felt hard at times with the altitude but overall it was incredible – totally worth it.” Dave has now completed 25 races this year in the Great Run series, which has seen him cover nearly 250 miles.
He is raising money for the Albion Foundation and is set to bring in around £30,000 by the time he finishes.
The run in Addis Ababa was at an altitude of 8,000ft. Dave was joined by his guides Garry Wells and Tony Ellis.
The trip will be extra special as he will celebrate his 60th birthday in Ethiopia, which he ‘never imagined’ doing.
Dave is an avid endurance athlete. He has previously completed Marathon des Sables – dubbed the toughest footrace on earth – in the Sahara desert, the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon in the cold waters off San Francisco, and was the first blind runner to complete The 7s – seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.
