Backyard Ultra Marathon raises over £9,000

At 6am on Saturday 18th July 2020, brothers James and Will Smith and Rudi Lewis set off on a mammoth Backyard Ultra Marathon completing 100 miles in just 24 hours. James and Rudi ran 4.2 miles on the hour every hour and Will completed the same distance on the rowing machine. The team have managed to raise over £4,900 so far which has very kindly be matched by James’s employer, Convey Law, bringing the total to just under £10,000. This money will cover Mindstep’s next instalment to the University of Glasgow for a PhD in suicide research.

“The challenge started well with many people turning up throughout the day to run laps and show support. After 16 hours, and as darkness descended on us, our bodies started to hurt! Then, at 11pm, the rain came. In our minds, we were determined to complete 100 miles in 24 hours and nothing was going to stop us. We battled on throughout the night with more incredible people coming out to run with us in the dark and wet. These were the most testing hours, and we were grateful to see fresh faces! At 4am, Rudi said to me “it’s always darkest just before dawn”, and with that daybreak came and lifted our spirits. We were joined on the final lap by the Davies family and other supporters, who spurred us on to finish the challenge. 

We were overwhelmed by the support shown for us, but more importantly, people were there to support the charity. On each lap, we discussed mental health with different people who were instantly engaged with the issues surrounding mental health and depression, as everyone is affected or knows someone who has been affected in some way. 

We have raised over £4900 for the foundation which is very generously being matched by my employer Convey Law. We are so grateful for those who supported us on the day and to those have donated to the cause.”

James Smith

The Mindstep Foundation is incredibly grateful to James, Will and Rudi for undertaking this impressive challenge in aid of the Mindstep Foundation. You can still sponsor the team here.

The team effort was also featured in the local newspaper, you can find a link to the article here.