Buckie and Keith teacher to visit Palestine next month for 10k marathon challenge
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AN inspirational teacher from Buckie is returning to Palestine to take part in a sponsored run.
Ray Aiken (71) who lives in the town and teaches at Keith Grammar is returning to Palestine for the fourth time next month as part of a mission with charity Amos Trust.
During the week-long trip Ray will visit several locations across the occupied country – including the house he helped build on his trip last year – before taking part in the Palestinian marathon on March 10.
He said: “I’ve always been a keen runner and did the Palestinian Marathon for the first time in 2019.
“Every year it has been in the back of my mind that I wanted to come back and do it again and after recovering from an injury I decided to just do it.
“I’m very excited to do the run again, the marathon is a huge part of the cause. They call it the Freedom to Run marathon because you can’t actually run a full marathon from Bethlehem, the furthest you can run before you reach a checkpoint or part of the separation wall is six miles if you aren’t going to retrace your steps, so you actually do four laps for a full marathon around the area – which is obviously very different to your typical marathon run.”
Ray worked as a Religious Moral Education (RME) teacher at Buckie High School for 36 years before retiring in 2012 and now works on a supply basis at Keith Grammar
After he retired Ray decided to book a three-month long volunteering trip in Tanzania and became inspired to do more work for charity. Since then the teacher has volunteered several times in Palestine and has helped in refugee camps, done several sponsored runs and cycles, and has rebuilt houses.
Ray will also be joined for the first time by one of his children with the youngest of his four sons, Finlay (31) joining him to run in the marathon.
Ray said: “I think Finlay wanted to come out with me this year because he wondered why I’m so fascinated with Palestine. He is also quite a keen runner himself, so he decided to take on the challenge.
“My wife keeps asking me if I’m going to stop soon, but my eldest son has now expressed an interested in coming to Palestine and he said he might come with me next year, so I might have another trip with another son then, it’s turning into a bit of a family affair really.”
Ray will be in Palestine for seven days and will visit projects run by the charity Amos Trust, who work to promote peace and reconciliation throughout Palestine.
He said: “It is so important to highlight the plight of these people who are living in an occupied country and give them hope.
“During the marathon we run through a refugee camp, so you really do see first-hand the conditions and the lives these people are living under. Some of them see very brutal conditions, it is a very dire situation but the freedom run is one of the occasions where there is a lot of excitement and joy and a lot of hope and I think it’s important to spread that and try and help these people as much as possible.”
Anyone who would like to donate to Ray and Finlay’s fundraiser can do so online at: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ray-aiken5
