Will Highfield
Will's Global Marathons for Durrell!
Fundraising for Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
Story
Hi I'm Will Highfield.
You may know me or recognise me if you are a regular visitor to the zoo, I'm Will from the Till! For the past 3 years I have also volunteered on my day off as a keeper at the gorilla house.
After running the full Jersey Marathon 2019 in my gorilla suit and raising an incredible £32,445.96 towards a brand new, state of the art indoor home for the gorillas, I don't want to stop....
My fundraising will continue until 2025, which would be Gerald Durrell's 100th Birthday. I am planning to run the official Marathon distance of 26.2 miles (42.2km) in each of the Durrell Rewilding Sites.
These locations are: Sumatra, India, Brazil, Floreana Island (Galapagos Archipelago), St Lucia, Mauritius, Madagascar and Great Britain.
These locations are: Sumatra, India, Brazil, Floreana Island (Galapagos Archipelago), St Lucia, Mauritius, Madagascar and Great Britain.
This will only be possible if I can raise specific allocated funds for travel costs and visas. No other donations received through JustGiving or cash will be used towards my travel with 100% of it going to Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. If you would like to contribute directly to ensuring these fundraising Marathons can go ahead, please get in touch via e-mail will.highfield@durrell.org or via Messenger on my @jerseygorilla Facebook page.
As many of these locations where the Durrell Rewilding Sites are based do not have their own official marathons, I will be planning my own routes and running in each of these locations in my gorilla suit or in an animal suit that represents one of the animals that Durrell's conservation teams are working to protect. ** This is subject to an assessment before each planned trip to ensure it is culturally appropriate, sensitive to local communities and safe for myself to do so **
As well as running the marathon in an animal suit, I will also be volunteering with our conservation teams to give supporters a unique perspective of Durrell's work in the wild. I also plan to document each trip with photos and videos to share with my supporters upon my return.
I am very grateful to the following local businesses who are kindly supporting each aspect of my Training & Fundraising Campaign:
Traction Running & Fitness - Running Coach & Training Sponsor
Pinpoint Nutrition - Nutrition & Diet Sponsor
Performance Physiotherapy - Sports Massage & Injury Prevention Sponsor
Big Maggys - Cycling Sponsor
Wear Your Belief - Jersey Gorilla Branded Clothing Sponsor
I will be training and running events throughout the year so please show your support by following my @JerseyGorilla Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages for updates. If you do see me out, please say hi and take photos which you can tag me in and share on social media.
Please also don't forget to donate to support our important conservation work here at Jersey Zoo and in the Wild!
Some people may think I'm bananas but every pound motivates me to complete the training for this challenge. Thank you all for your generous support in advance.