Doctors go the distance for BSF

Tuesday 7th February 2012

Five skin specialists will be donning their running shoes and taking on the Brighton Half Marathon in aid of the British Skin Foundation (BSF).

The team, based at Brighton General Hospital, includes dermatologists Dr Liz Derrick, 56, Dr Paul Farrant, 36, and Dr Susan Ferrier, 40, who will be joined by GPs Helen Graham, 40, and 35-year-old Phil Wallek.

They will be running for the BSF, a UK charity that is dedicated to raising funds for skin disease research, on February 19.

Dr Derrick, who is clinical director for outpatients at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust, said: "We work in the dermatology department, so choosing to support the British Skin Foundation was the natural choice."

She and the team will be joined by about 10,000 other runners in the 22nd year of the event, which will make it the biggest Brighton Half Marathon race so far.

With a month to go before the big day, training has been going well for the team.

Dr Derrick said: "Three of us in the group have run a marathon before and two are complete novices, though reasonably fit young men.

"We are all feeling a bit anxious, but are running about 10 miles at the moment. The fittest of us is aiming for a finish time of one hour and 30 minutes.

"Our aim is to be able to raise as much money as possible for the charity."

The BSF also has places available for the British 10K in London on July 8 and the Great North Run in South Shields on September 16. To register for either, visit http://www.britishskinfoundation.org.uk.

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