Third annual Retina Race attracts early birds who turned out for a very good cause

The third annual RETINA race attracted early birds who turned out for a very good cause At an hour when most mortals were still snuggled comfortably under their duvets, ophthalmologists, scientists and exhibitors turned out  to support the Retina Race in aid  of ORBIS.

Organised by EURETINA and sponsored by Alcon and Novartis, the third annual Retina Race took place in perfect running conditions over 5km around London’s Docklands area.

Not deterred by the early start, over 120 runners of all ages took part in the race, cheered on by colleagues, friends and family members. After some gentle stretching and light refreshments, the runners were off and running from the starting gun fired by Anat Loewenstein, co-founder of the race along with Stephane Wolf, global brand director ophthalmics, Fovista & new products at Novartis. While the emphasis of the Retina Race is firmly on the fun aspect of participating and raising money for charity, the runners were still keen to improve on personal best times and perhaps earn a place on the winner’s podium.

The first male competitor past the winning post was the flying Frenchman, Frederic Gobert, from  La Rochelle who completed the course in a blistering 16 minutes and 33 seconds. Not too far behind him  was Eva Vogt from the Black Forest  in Germany who was the first  female runner to cross the line in  a lung-bursting 20 minutes and  10 seconds.

The biggest cheer of the day, however, was reserved for blind athlete, Selina Litt, a sprinter who represented England at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and who completed the EURETINA Race with the assistance of a sighted  guide-runner.

Key race organiser Stephane Wolf thanked everyone who took part in the race and said he hoped to see even more people taking part next year when the 15th EURETINA Congress will be held in Nice, France.

Jaymie Duke, corporate partnerships officer at ORBIS, also thanked all the participants for playing their part in raising money to go towards much-needed prevention of blindness programmes in the developing world.