Charities
LOCAL OPTICIAN SETS HIS SIGHTS HIGH
Press Release / 2012-05-06 14:32:21
Jorge Martinez de Lizarduy Araico, Director of Specsavers Opticas Benidorm, has announced that he will be taking part in two mountain races this year to raise money for charity The Friends of the Children of EMAÚS. In between these two runs, from 10th March to 12th May, the team aim to raise €2000 for the charity by fundraising in store and gaining sponsors for the mountain race.
The first run took place on 10th March from La Perimetral to Benissa, 63.8km through the mountains at a maximum altitude of 3,100 meters. Jorge completed the run in just over 11 hours and said “What a tough race... but it was amazing”. The second demanding mountain run is the Maratóimitja Castelló-Penyagolosa on 12th May, a distance of 61.76km.
He is running for The Friends of the Children of EMAÚS, a charity Specsavers Opticas Benidorm has committed to support throughout 2012. The Friends of the Children of EMAÚS are a completely voluntary group of individuals, based in Northern Costa Blanca, whose purpose is to raise much-needed funds for children in EMAÚS’ shelters.
Jorge explains why they chose the charity, “The other store Director and I are both family men and so this children’s charity is close to our hearts. Children are the most vulnerable members of our society and so we want to support this charity which is working so hard to protect children coming from bad homes. In addition to the charity runs, from 10th March to 12th May we want to raise as much as possible so we are giving away free eye tests in store and encouraging customers to make a small donation to the charity. We hope our clients and local residents will give generously to help EMAÚS with their important work.”
Unbelievably, Jorge only took an interest in running four years ago, and has been inspired to push himself further by a bet! “My first running challenge was the Benidorm half marathon. I did it in 1 hour 49 minutes, a respectable time, but my friend bet me that I couldn’t get down to 1 hour 35 the following year and I just had to prove him wrong. I started training intensively for this with a group of guys and we’re now a team of seven called Specsavers Benidorm which was launched on 8th March. There are some exceptional athletes in our team and we train 5-6 times a week. These runs are just the latest challenge we’ve set ourselves whilst raising money for a good cause.”
To follow Jorge’s progress visit their Facebook page Specsavers Montaña Benidorm. For an eye test or to make a donation to the charity visit Specsavers Opticas Benidorm at Calle de Gambó 2.
Photo Caption: Left to right - Luis Barcia Caro, José Antonio Rojano Nova, Jorge Martínez de Lizarduy Araico, José Carreño Román, Juan Miguel Ivars Becerra
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