Two friends from South West London have completed the Great Wall of China marathon dressed as characters from The Flintstones, raising over £2000 for Epilepsy Action!
On Saturday May 17 2008, Charlie Pushman, dressed as Fred Flintstone, and Charlie McLaren as Barney Rubble -the only two people in fancy dress- ran the longest wall in the world alongside 2000 others in 30˚C heat. The marathon is a gruelling challenge, at 3000m above sea level and, with over 3,700 steps to navigate, one participant observed that “after 22 miles grown men were leaning against the wall crying”.
Both Charlies managed to complete the challenge and in doing so, raised £1086 which was generously matched by Standard Bank making the grand total donated to Epilepsy Action, £2086.
The reason for choosing Epilepsy Action to donate to lies with Charlie Pushman.
Pushman says: “I chose the charity Epilepsy Action as my eldest brother suffers from epilepsy and I wanted to raise awareness of the condition and help others with epilepsy.”
Pushman’s running partner, McLaren, added: “This was my first marathon- if you’re gonna go for it you might as well embrace it! The views were spectacular and if felt fantastic to finish the race”.
The money raised by the two Charlies will help fund the vital advice and information services provided by Epilepsy Action, the UK’s largest member-led epilepsy charity. Last year alone the organisation directly helped over 731,000 people through a range of services including its Epilepsy Helpline, advice and information centre, and branch network.