The AKU Society is thrilled to introduce you to Jamie Rumbelow. Jamie is running the Edinburgh Half Marathon, part of Edinburgh’s annual Marathon Festival, on 27th May to raise money for us.
Jamie lives in the beautiful Scottish town of St. Andrews. He is studying for a master’s degree in philosophy at the University of St. Andrews, which has given him plenty of opportunity to visit Edinburgh and fall in love with the city. He is very excited by this year’s marathon route. Beginning in the heart of the city, next to Greyfriars Bobby and the Edinburgh University campus, it runs eastwards along the coast as far as Musselburgh, believed to be the oldest golf course in the world.

Jamie enjoys running. This is his first half marathon, but in February 2015, he ran ten kilometres for the London Winter Run in an impressive 54 minutes, 50 seconds, putting him well within the top third of runners. He has kept on running informally ever since. He remembers, though, how much work he needed to put in to get a good time in London and has planned lots of training before the Edinburgh run in May.

Jamie is especially proud to be supporting the AKU Society;‘I heard about the AKU Society when my friend got a job there. I naturally wanted to know what alkaptonuria was. Some of the symptoms I saw on the internet looked horrific. When asked to raise money for a charity which helps sufferers and promotes research into a cure, I obviously wanted to help.

I’m told the money I raise will go towards the International Patient Workshop in April. This is very important. People suffer from this disease all over the world, but the best support and advice seems to be in the UK. I want the cost of travel to be as small a barrier as possible, so that international patients can come along to network, be updated on research, and get help managing their condition.’Jamie’s fundraising target is £300. He has raised £100 so far – you can donate online 

here on his JustGiving page.