'Double marathon' for
raising funds for special school
Two officers are set to run in a grueling 89-kilometre marathon in South Africa in June to raise funds for a special school - the Watchdog Early Learning and Development Centre in Central.
Superintendent Peter Barnes and Chief Inspector Paul Keylock hope to raise $1 million for the centre, which provides a pre-school programme for children under the age of six with Down's Syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and learning difficulties.
Contributions are coming in after they wrote to the Commissioner, directorate officers and formation commanders earlier in the year, appealing for support for their volunteer work. To this day, they have received a total of $200,000.
Those who wish to sponsor the pair may make out cheque payable to "WATCHDOG LIMITED" and send it to Mr Keylock, DOO Sha Tin District. Any amount over $100 is tax-deductible and receipts can be given.
The "Comrades Marathon" is scheduled to take place on June 16, starting in Durban and finishing in Pietermaritzburgh. The race is scheduled to start at 5.30 am in temperatures between five and 10 degrees Celsius, and by the finish at 5.30 pm, the temperatures are expected to be around 25 degrees Celsius. Despite this, Peter and Paul hope to complete this "double" marathon in 11 hours.
Mr Keylock's association with the centre started in 1993 when he, as a Probationary Inspector Instructor at Police Training School, sent his students to help out at the centre during their one-week Community Service Attachment. He took on a more active and bigger role as the chairman of a fund-raising sub-committee when the centre ran into a $1.5 million deficit in 1999. Apart from seeking local help, he ran in the London Marathon the following year, and managed to raise $750,000 for the centre.
Being enthusiastic marathon runners, Mr Keylock and Mr Barnes have participated in events not only in Hong Kong but also Hawaii, Vietnam, Singapore and Macao. Mr Keylock has 13 runs to his credit, while Mr Barnes has 10. Mr Barnes' local runs included the 100-kilometre McLehose Trail Walker from Sai Kung to Tuen Mun in 1994.
In preparation for the upcoming marathon, they participated in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon and the Macao Marathon in December last year, as well as the Coast of China Marathon in February. They will also take part in the 65 km "Round the Island" race on April 25. This will be a very tough and demanding race in the heat and humidity of Hong Kong, but a very good warm up for their race in South Africa.
And they will continue training hard so that they would be at their fittest forms before leaving for South Africa.
Peter (right) and Paul visit children of the centre