Northern Beaches local, James Pittar, 52, from North Balgowlah, is a blind marathon swimmer who, in 1998, became the first blind person to swim the English channel.
In 2006 when training for the Catalina Channel between Catalina Island and the mainland of Los Angeles, James decided to do the swim for a charity. He chose The Fred Hollows Foundation.
The Fred Hollows Foundation is close to James’ heart as it is committed to raising money for the blind. More specifically, they raise money to enable cataract operations that can cure eyesight.
James learned that by raising as little as $25, the foundation could cure someone’s eyesight in a developing country overseas.
Between 2011-2014, James organised ocean swims in both the Eastern suburbs and Northern Beaches to raise funds for the Foundation. Over the four years, he helped raise over $100,000.
Now he is on a mission to raise a further $10,000 by swimming 100kms throughout the month of August as part of Fred’s Big Run.
This year marks the third year of Fred’s Big Run following its launch in 2020, where more than 7,300 people in 782 teams took part from 25 countries around the world. The event was a huge success raising over $1.78 million for The Foundation. It went on to raise over $2 million for The Foundation in 2021.
A great way to increase daily steps for physical and mental health, you can log and track your kilometres by downloading the Fred’s Big Run App, through your own personal fitness platform (eg Fitbit or Strava) or manually through the Fred’s Big Run website.
“After a very rainy winter, we all need a little extra motivation to
reach our fitness goals, and signing up for a challenge is the perfect way to do it,” says James.
“Fred’s Big Run reminds participants of the legacy that Fred left behind, working to ensure no person is needlessly blind or vision impaired,” he adds.
The Fred Hollows Foundation now works in more than 25 countries and has restored sight to over 3 million people worldwide.
Visit www.fredsbigrun.org to sign up now and throughout the month of August. Entry is free and you can register for yourself or as part of a team. Connect with Fred’s Big Run over on Instagram and Facebook.
Athlete and Author, Turia Pitt has also publicly announced her involvement in this year’s Fred’s Big Run, and so has Australian TV personality, Chrissie Swan.
If you would like to sponsor James, go to// www.fredsbigrun.org/fundraisers/jamespittar.
