[T]HE largest number of runners yet set off today Friday (11 May) to tackle the same marathon every day for 10 days in an anti-clockwise direction around England’s longest lake, Windermere.
Five women and 15 men, ranging in age from their 30s to their 60s, hope to join a list of 104 runners to complete one of the UK’s most gruelling multi-marathon challenge events, and all for charity.
Since the first Brathay 10in10, in 2007, the efforts of ordinary runners doing the extraordinary has raised over £1million for the Ambleside based youth charity, Brathay Trust and their work with children and young people.
In the 11 years since it started, the record for the fastest time is held by the youngest entrant, Adam Holland. In 2010, he ran it in 30:24:54, averaging 3:02:05 for each marathon. The oldest person to complete the challenge, twice, is John Dawson. At 73-years-old, his average marathon time in 2011 was 7hrs and 8minutes. At 64-years-old, Angela Oldham is the oldest female to complete the 10in10 with an average time of 4hrs and 24 minute for each of her marathons.
This year’s cohort once again represents a mixture of running ability and experience including:
Newcastle’s Adrian Brooks, who once weighed more than 26 stone and could barely run for more than five seconds.
Malcolm Collins from Greater Manchester is returning for his fifth 10in10 and with over 250 marathons under his belt he hopes recent knee surgery won’t prevent him from completing the course.
Gary Wade from Holmfirth and Joni Southall from York are the first dad and daughter duo to run the 10in10 – proof that running must be in their genes. Gary, who manages running with diabetes, knows the course well as the ASICS Windermere Marathon which he’s completed every year for 11 consecutive years.
Janet Shepherd is celebrating her 60th birthday with a second 10in10. The fitness trainer helps the over 70s get into exercise and is keen to champion being active at any age.
The two runners who are local to the course are Duncan Evans, who is the manager at the Ryebeck Hotel in Bowness, and John McCann, a member of Kendal Athletics Club who lives in Morecambe. This is John’s, who is 66-years-old, second 10in10.
Profiles of all 20 10in10ers can be found on the Brathay Challenges website here: https://www.brathaychallenges.com/events/running/10in10/10in10-athletes
Brathay’s Head of Fundraising, Scott Umpleby, a committed fell runner and member of Kendal Athletics Club knows the 10in10 course well. Having run it a few times, as a single training marathon, he understands the mental and physical challenge facing the 10in10ers.
Scott said: “We have a huge amount of respect for the wonderful runners who have been there for us. Since we first introduced our marathon fundraising running events their efforts have raised over £1million for the children and young people we support. We have also been overwhelmed by the wider running community’s response to Matt Campbell’s death during the London Marathon. He was fundraising in memory of his dad Martin, who was a big part of the 10in10 support team. Some of the 10in10ers knew Matt and Martin well and they will be remembering them in individual ways as they run a marathon each day for the next 10 days” added Scott.
Recognised as one of the UK’s ultimate endurance running events, it was devised by academic Sir Christopher Ball, as a Fellow of Brathay. He ran it in 2007 aged 72, to prove that ordinary people can tackle extraordinary feats of physical and mental endurance.
The final marathon for the 20 fundraising heroes is on Sunday 20 May when the course coincides with the one day ASICS Windermere Marathon, which over 1000 runners have signed up for.
Videos and updates from each day of the 10in10 will be shared via twitter @BrathayEvents and facebook @BrathayRunning.
Over 70 years of expertise in outdoor learning, and supporting young people and adults to make positive changes to their lives, means the charity is well equipped to organise its own fundraising endurance events – many charities outsource theirs.
