UK runner leaves gogos starry-eyed
HE has designed spectacles for Harry Potter and shades for James Bond, but today, away from the glitz of the reel world, British optician William Luff has only the 89km stretch of road from Pietermaritzburg to Durban in his sights.
Luff, 57, will be tackling his third Comrades Marathon — and this time he will brave the “African heat” to raise funds for more than 100 gogos from the Valley of a Thousand Hills who are caring for grandchildren orphaned by HIV/ Aids.
Luff, the director of online commercial optical company Glassesonspec, based in Watford, was commissioned by Warner Bros Studios to create Harry’s trademark round glasses for its hit film series.
“I knew the costume designer and props master. I had done work for them on other films, I guess they liked my work,” Luff said.
Running the Comrades is as challenging as making 12 prototype pairs before the studio approved the final design.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling said in an interview that the reason she gave Harry glasses was that she wore them herself as a child and was fed up with books in which the bespectacled character was the “brainy one”.
She wanted a hero who wore glasses.
Luff said he had no clue how big the film series would become.
“The brief for Harry Potter was ‘round and cool-looking’,” he recalled.
Through his work on the films, Luff has seen their star, Daniel Radcliffe, grow up.
“Dan was a cute kid when I first met him. He grew into a charming young man as the films went by.”
Now Luff has become a hero himself for running the Comrades to raise funds for the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust, which provides support to the grandmothers.
On Friday, Luff took time off his Comrades preparations to conduct eye tests for the reading glasses he will donate to them.
“My son Matt has been supporting the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust for years. I saw their projects last year. I was so moved that I wanted to give back in some way.
“I make a good living selling ON SET: Luff measures actor Daniel Radcliffe for the glasses that would become a Harry Potter trademark glasses for most of the Britishmade films, so every year I like to give back to needy people.”
Luff has been running marathons since he was a teenager and does up to 80km a week.
“It takes loads of willpower to race 90km in the African heat, so running for a charity like this gives me the incentive to keep going when the going gets tough,” he said.
He has been training since January for the marathon, the world’s oldest and largest ultramarathon.
“I’m not fast. My son is running with me, he is hoping for eight hours,” he said.
Although the grannies have never heard of Harry Potter, they are grateful for Luff’s generosity.
Khumbuzile Mazeka, 65, said: “Having reading glasses will help me because I sew and it is hard to see without glasses, especially at night.”
Emma Khumalo, 75, said her diabetes had affected her sight. “Reading glasses will help me to see more vividly. They will help me read my Bible and my hymn book, which are important to me.”