And they're off...

Sixteen people take the first of 330,000 steps towards completing 10 marathons in as many days as they pledge to raise £91,000 for our work with disadvantaged youngster.

Their physical and mental challenge begins on Friday 12 May on the lawn at Brathay Hall.

The Brathay ‘10in10’, described as the UK’s ultimate endurance running event for non-athletes, is 10 breath-taking laps around the beautiful and hilly edges of Windermere through honey-pot villages.

Twelve of the runners are tackling the challenge for the first time, whilst four are returning for a second, third and even fifth time. They range in age from 35 to 64 years old with the faster runners expected to average a daily time of around three and a half hours and others taking up to six hours to complete the course each day. For the first time in the event’s history, the 10n10 has attracted four runners from South Cumbria and five from Yorkshire.

Legendary fell runner Joss Naylor MBE, Patron of the Brathay 10in10, will see all 16 runners off on their first marathon and will welcome them back from their last, on Sunday 21 May. The last marathon, or heroes lap, is also the one day ASICS Windermere Marathon which attracts 900 runners.

During the event the runners live on site supported by a team which includes professional sport therapists and second year sports therapy students from the University of Cumbria. The University is carrying out a third year of research into the non-professional athletes running multiple marathons. 

Dr Katie Small from the University of Cumbria said: “Whilst more and more non-professional runners are taking part in multi-day marathons there is little research into injury rates and types of injuries. Runners also tell us that it’s hard to find any advice on what sort of training to do and how much of it to do. Our research hopes to answer some of these questions. We also hope to see fewer injuries as a result of meeting the runners in January and giving them five top injury prevention exercises to follow” added Dr Small.

The runners are £30,000 short of their collective target. They are hoping people who see them running through the villages and around the Lake each day will support them by texting 70070 with the message MARA26 and the donation amount.

Well-wishers can send words of encouragement to @BrathayRunning (social media links at the bottom of this page) and follow their progress through daily updates posted here.

Looking after the runners is our Head of Operations, Aly Knowles, who is also from Ulverston. She is only too familiar with the monumental challenge facing them having trained for two 10in10s herself. Aly Knowles said: “Training for one marathon is tough enough, but training for 10 that are not only back to back, but the same one every day is very hard. And on top of that there is the fundraising. We can’t thank our fabulous runners, their families, friends and supporters enough.”

Head of Fundraising, Scott Umpleby says the charity appreciates all that the runners do and added: “It is a massive undertaking and ultimately it means we can work with some very vulnerable young people, helping them turn their lives around.”

The Brathay 10in10 begins on Friday, 12 May and ends on Sunday 21 May to coincide with the ASICS Windermere Marathon and Go Active at Brathay Day. For more information visit click here.