UH/1002

Victims Fund gets £10,000 boost from London Marathon
BY ROSETTA DONNELLY

THE 26 arduous miles of the London Marathon were covered at the weekend by a man on a mission.
Victor Barker, father of James Barker who died in the Omagh bomb, was fuelled by memories of his son as he ran the marathon.
Forty-five year old Mr Barker had failed to finish the 26 mile race on his only other attempt. But his determination at the weekend knew no bounds and he completed the run in 4 hours and 42mins.
His goal was to raise money for the civil action being taken by families of victims of the bomb against the alleged perpetrators and to date he has raised between £7,000 - £10,000. And the figure continues to rise.
Nearly £1m has been raised by campaigners to take the civil action. The Omagh Victims League Trust must file papers by June if they want to proceed with their case and need to raised around £1.5m to fund their legal team.
Speaking to the Ulster Herald on Monday, a sore but delighted Mr Barker said it had been worth every painful mile.
"It was tough but what kept me going were thoughts of James and thinking he would have wanted to do the marathon when he was older".
He said James was a very athletic child and interested in sports. "I know he would have wanted me to do it" he said.
Victor wore a T-shirt bearing a photo of James and the world 'In memory of James Barker murdered by the Real IRA' during the race.