Brighton and Hove Olympic torch bearers get ready to run
More than two dozen people have been picked to carry the torch through Brighton and Hove today (Monday 16 July) and tomorrow (Tuesday 17 July).
Among those carrying the torch during its stay in Brighton and Hove are former swimming teacher Sylvia Baker, 87, from Brighton. She had hoped to be the oldest person to carry the Olympic flame and said: “People call me crazy as I do so much but life is for living. Let me dream the dream!”
Kevin Betts, 28, from Worthing, who is running 52 marathons for charity this year, will be the first torch bearer at 5.50pm in Hangleton this afternoon.
Gemma Sharp, 30, from Brighton, is a special school teacher and Barnardo’s carer who looks after a young boy with autism. She is also an experienced charity runner having raised money at several events including the Race for Life and the London Marathon. She will carry the torch down Nevill Road in Hangleton.
Next is another marathon-running fundraiser, Kathy Gore, the high sheriff of East Sussex. Kathy, 57, from Uckfield, has raised thousands of pounds for Sussex hospices and is due to carry the torch into Hove Park.
In the park she will pass it on to long-serving volunteer coach Peter Witcomb, 62, of Brighton and Hove Athletics Club.
He will in turn pass it to “inspirational” Portslade schoolboy Robbie Heward, 12. Robbie, who lives in Southwick and has autism and epilepsy, is a pupil at Hillside Special School in Portslade.
It will then be carried by 65-year-old Alan “Diggers” Wildig, who was described as “a true unsung hero of grassroots sports participation”. He is the chairman of St Matthias Cricket Club and has played, coached and been involved in running the Brighton club for nearly 40 years.
The Olympic champion ice skater Robin Cousins, 54, who lives in Brighton, will carry the torch part way down The Drive.
And Lesley Anne Di Marco, 66, a youth worker from Hove, will carry the torch on to the seafront by King’s House, the headquarters of Brighton and Hove City Council.
Finally today, Karen West, 60, a nurse from Worthing who cares for cancer patients and their families, will carry the torch into the cricket ground.
Zachary Narvaez, 17, is due to be the first runner in the morning. He was nominated by a former teacher who was impressed with his charity fundraising efforts for the Martlets Hospice after the death of his grandfather. He was deputy head boy at Dorothy Stringer School and is now studying at Brighton, Hove and Sussex VI Form College (BHASVIC).
Mark Hill, 48, an expert accident investigator for Sussex Police, takes the next turn. The father of two, from Hassocks, has run more than two dozen marathons for charity.
He will pass the torch to sporty Peacehaven schoolboy Freddy Mouland, 12, who was described as “a true inspiration”.
HIV nursing assistant Colin Bentley, 42, from Brighton, will pass the torch to Peter Avey, 72. The former RNLI Brighton lifeboat volunteer now runs a fish and chip shop in King’s Roach Arches on Brighton seafront.
After leaving Brighton from Withdean the torch will be carried through Crawley, Crowborough, Lewes, Eastbourne, Pevensey and Bexhill on its way to Hastings tomorrow.
