London-based Doron Kristal has set himself a marathon fundraising challenge — quite literally.
His mission is to run 12 marathons in 24 months — six for Jewish Blind & Disabled (JBD) and six for Jeans for Genes, the children’s charity where he is head of marketing operations — and to raise £12,000 in the process.
Mr Kristal, 32, tells People: “I ran my first 10k in 2007 and got a taste for the sport. I began to train regularly and completed the London marathon in 2008 in 3 hours and 32 minutes. Once I’d got over the pain I started booking up a load of others and decided to do them for these two charities that do such great work.”
He adds: “It’s a tough economic climate so support is extra important and if what I’m doing helps, then great.” Money raised for Jeans for Genes will help provide care for children living with genetic disorders, their families, and fund research into finding cures. JBD hopes to use the money to upgrade their six premises across London. Mr Kristal, a former Habonim Dror-nik, is just over half way there having completed seven marathons so far, in San Francisco, Snowdonia, Hastings, Paris, London and Edinburgh. He plans to end the challenge with the London marathon in 2010.
His training typically consists of three runs a week, totalling between 20 and 55 miles. Leading up to a race, his diet, which by his own admission is “pretty awful — burger and chips awful”, improves significantly. “I will carb-load in the weeks beforehand and the night before the race, I’ll have fish, pasta and rice.” According to Mr Kristal, a JFS old boy, the last 10km of a race “is always the hardest but by then you can feel the finishing line”.
