Salisbury sports therapist Alex Bance (43) has just set a world best for continuous running while deaf and blind, although he is not affected by either of these conditions himself.

Alex is a serial fundraiser for Julia's House Children's Hospice located in Corfe Mullen, Dorset and Devizes, Wiltshire. Julia's House is a hospice for children with life-limiting, life-threatening or terminal conditions. The majority of children cared for by Julia's House are unlikely to live beyond the age of 18.

Previous fundraising efforts by Alex have included running more than 100 miles in 24 hours and running continuously on a hill for the equivalent height of Everest (29,092 feet). He also dedicated a run in the Jurassic Coast Ultra Challenge to his chosen charity because, as he says: "I want to help families facing unimaginable heartbreak – the knowledge that their child may not live into adulthood. Julia’s House provides frequent, flexible care for children with life-limited or life-threatening conditions to give their parents a much-needed break".

Alex discovered there was no Guinness World Record for running 24 hours while deaf and blind, although a previous attempt had achieved 80K/50 miles. When this cropped up in discussion with staff at Julia's House – where some of the children cared for are deafblind – it soon became his next challenge and the date and venue was set: 7-8 October 2023 at South Wilts Grammar School in Salisbury.

Alex assembled a team of witnesses and had just one practice run – for an hour – before his attempt. He wore a blindfold and noise-cancelling headphones to simulate deafblindness, which he described as: "Like being underwater". In his practice run he only managed a hesitant three miles in the hour.

With a system of poles and string to mark the 400m oval track he was to run and a glove on his left hand to prevent lacerating himself on his guidelines, Alex started his attempt at 2:00pm on Saturday 7 October. He had installed a triple pole at the start to indicate the position of his feed station and to help keep track of his progress in his sensory-deprived state.

The result of this extraordinary effort was recorded 24 hours later as a new world record of 116K/72 miles and the details will now be submitted to Guinness World Records. Alex has already doubled his £1,500 target but you can still donate to his JustGiving page here. 

Photo courtesy Alex Bance