Challenge || Former boxer Jorge Pina will be taking on a huge challenge next month – he will be running 700kms from the north to the south of Portugal in just 10 days, and it’s all to raise money for 10 still undisclosed charities.
But if the challenge in itself wasn’t already hard enough, there’s one detail which takes the whole event to the next level – Jorge Pina is blind.
He lost his sight while boxing years ago. But, amazingly, the runner sees his condition as a blessing not a handicap.
“I used to be blind! Now I can see… God took me off one path to put me on a better one,” he says.
And he’s set on proving it.
For Pina, the marathon will not only be a way of showing himself that he can complete the challenge, but also a way of demonstrating to others that “everything is possible even during tough times” – like the situation facing Portugal today.
Full details of this extraordinary marathon are to be revealed at a press conference in Lisbon on Thursday (September 25).
Everyone attending will be invited to put on a blindfold to create an “original and sensory experience”.
Pina’s adventure is due to begin on October 5 in Viana do Castelo.
He will be running through Porto, Aveiro, Figueira da Foz, Ourém, Torres Vedras, Santarém, Lisbon, Grândola, Sines, Odemira until finally arriving in the Algarve on October 15 at Vila do Bispo.
Despite the difficulty of the run, Pina is well-prepared. He competed at 2012’s Paralympics in London and is aiming for the 2016’s Paralympics marathon in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
But before that, there is this incredible journey through Portugal.
If you are interested in helping Pina along the way – and supporting charity – you can make a donation on the athlete’s crowdfunding page ‘Nós Queremos’:
www.nosqueremos.pt/event_info.php?id=7
