Paws for a Cause: Kevin Balfour’s Camino Canine Caper

One of the silver linings that has come with covering the various Two Oceans issues and dramas is getting to meet and chat with many fellow Blue Numbers. One of these was Kevin Balfour who completed his 13^th Oceans voyage this year.

After last year’s Two Oceans, Kevin and his partner popped over to Portugal to walk the Camino trail. He reminisced, “We loved the whole experience – the local people, the friendship of fellow walkers, the natural beauty and quaint towns along the route.” Everything was perfect but Kevin realised that there was an improvement opportunity – to come back and run it!

So, here we are a year later and Kevin has just set foot on the Camino route again, this time in a fundraising effort for the South African Guide Dogs Association. The Portuguese Camino from Porto to Santiago de Compostela (in Galicia, Spain, where the remains of Saint James the Apostle are believed to rest) is 300km long which breaks down almost perfectly to a marathon-a-day, which Kevin will be running unsupported.

There are a number of reasons why Kevin chose the SA Guide Dogs. He explains, “Try to close your eyes and walk down your street, let alone walk around your house or walk to the shops. A guide dog makes this, and much more, possible for a blind person. The ability of a guide dog to make such a positive change to somebody’s life, and the selfless work that the trainers do in order to train these dogs is truly remarkable.”

He continues, “Furthermore, I am always humbled and inspired when I see blind/partially sighted athletes and their (human) guides competing in races.”

Another reason for the run is to honour the memory of his father, a lifetime supporter of SA Guide Dogs, who recently passed away after a brave battle against cancer. As a self-admitted “animal person”, Kevin and family have supported SA Guide-Dogs (and other charities) over the years.

However, not everyone is happy with Kevin’s fundraising trip. I asked Kevin if his dog, a 7-year-old border collie called Saxon, would be going along. “Saxon is my forest/mountain running partner, and my partner’s walking companion. He goes everywhere he can with us and performs like a spoiled kid if he gets left at home.” However, Kevin admits, “Unfortunately he will be staying home for the trip (and will be very grumpy about it).”

From puppy to graduation, it costs more than R100,000 to train a working guide dog and Kevin is hoping to raise at least R50,000 or ‘half a dog’. One day into the challenge and he is well positioned to achieve this goal with over R40,000 raised so far.

In 2013, Kevin and six friends raised in excess of R125,000 doing the 30 Peaks Challenge (which is a 4 day trail run summiting all 30 peaks in Cape Peninsula which are higher than 250m, starting each day where they finished the previous day).

Kevin is a retired Civil Engineer who worked for the City of Cape Town’s Bulk Water Department for 36 years and he will be recuperating from his 7 marathons in 7 days by getting the bus back to Porto, meeting up with his partner and doing a 200km recovery walk along the Fatima Way Camino.

Apart from the fundraising aspirations, this will also form part of his training for his 23^rd Puffer – an 80km trail run from Cape Point to Green Point at the end of August. When on the road, Kevin runs for Western Province Cricket Club RC and was the race organiser of the first three editions of The Landmarks Half Marathon.

You can donate to Kevin’s cause here: https://www.givengain.com/project/kevin-raising-funds-for-south-african-guide-dogs-association-for-the-blind-98550 and find out more about the South African Guide-Dogs Association here: https://guidedog.org.za

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