Inveraray Jail Break re-run for brave Jay
GENEROUS race organisers are to hold a second Inveraray Jail Break - all for one man racing time to save his sight.
James Semple, 37, has a degenerative eye condition and faces losing his sight entirely before he reaches the age of 40.
Glasgow man James who prefers his racing name of Jay Cruz - entered last week’s successful Inveraray Jail Break, featuring a race up and down the Dun na Cuaiche landmark. Family commitments meant he was unable to make it, but now organisers have laid on a special second running this weekend for Jay, along with anyone else who fancies a crack at the hill.
Jay, a former mar- tial arts instructor, was diagnosed with choroideremia in 2013. The condition affects the blood vessels surrounding the retina and can lead to.
He began running shortly before his diagnosis and has run every year, despite failing eyesight.
He now has ambitions to run at the 2020
Paralympics in Tokyo. Jay, who always runs wearing a kilt and led by a guide, told the
Advertiser: ‘The Jail Break people have been so lovely. This will be my 95th run in a kilt covering 5k, 10k and half marathons, and I am really excited about coming to Inveraray because it is beautiful. This is a great opportunity for me.’
If it is a fast time you are expecting from this remarkable man, it might be time to revise your expectations because Jay will take on his first marathon on Sunday - the day after running the Jail Break.
An excited Jay continued: ‘I’ve got the chance to meet Zola Budd and Liz McColgan before the Stirling marathon on Sunday. What an honour to get to speak to these great runners.’
There is a serious side to Jay’s running programme as he fights blindness.
He believes his only hope of saving some of his vision is gene therapy, but he needs to raise £20,000 to pay for it.
Jay explained: ‘My hope is that gene therapy can save the little vision I have at the moment. If I can preserve the wee bit of eyesight I’ve got left it means I could see my fouryear-old son.’ The hope is that Jay will not be alone in his efforts when he sets off from Inveraray Jail at 11am on Saturday May 20.
Inveraray Jail organisers issued an open invitation on social media, saying: ‘Anyone local-ish fancy another crack at the big hill on Saturday?
‘We have a special guest runner who couldn’t make it on Sunday so we invited him along this weekend meeting at 11. It will be slow, as he has a marathon the next day, but it would be great to get some support for this man who has an interesting story.’