“And I would run 1,000 miles!” The Mighty Titans of Bowerhill prepare for epic challenge

THE Mighty Titans of Bowerhill have set themselves another epic charity challenge – this time running 1,000 miles from Land’s End to John o’Groats in seven days or less!

The 16 runners, who all train at New Era Fitness in Bowerhill, have set themselves a fundraising target of £10,000, which will go to Wiltshire Mind – the Melksham-based mental health charity which offers support across Wiltshire.

The charity is one close to the heart of group leader and owner of New Era Fitness, DJ Hussey, who wants to raise awareness about the support available to people with mental health problems.

“If you were to ask me what my personal driving factor behind choosing Wiltshire Mind as the charity to benefit from this, then my answer would be a selfish one,” explained DJ. “Sadly I lost my dad when I was four-years old to suicide and have all of my life suffered with mental health issues myself; from anxiety to depression and everything that comes with it.

“It is so important to me to do something to try and raise awareness of mental health. To try and get people talking about it, opening up and realising that it’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to feel down and to feel low, but to know where to turn when you feel that way if you need help. Charities like Wiltshire Mind provide that support and can provide the help, but they need help to do so – they need funds to survive.

“That’s why we’re doing this event for Wiltshire Mind – I’ve been very passionate about all of our charity challenges to date, but this one is more personal than ever.

“If one person benefits from us doing this, and gets the help they need or even just has a moment of clarity where they can let go of their anxieties for a moment and realise that it’s okay to not be okay and that it’s normal to feel low sometimes, then this will have all been worth it. This will have been a huge success in my eyes.”

This is the fourth challenge event organised by the fitness enthusiasts, who last year cycled from London to Paris in the space of three days. So far, the group has raised a total of £12,500 for various charities – but are hoping to almost double this if they can smash their current £10,000 target.

“The idea for this particular challenge actually came about a couple of years ago, like most things do, over a few too many pints of Guinness at a fundraising dinner,” joked DJ, “and a bright idea that one of our runners, Mark Hanman, had to run from Lands End to John o’Groats. And now here we are!

“The challenge has had to be crafted quite cleverly being that we have 16 Mighty Titans running. We have split up into four teams of four runners, with one support driver to transport them in motor homes (this is where each team will then sleep along the way).

“Each team will have a 50km (30 miles) stretch in front of them to tackle however they please, they can run solo as far as they want each time or run in pairs – whatever – the only thing is that they have to finish their 50km within 5 hours ready to ‘pass the baton’ onto the next team. As the miles roll away we will find ourselves running through all hours of the day over the seven days, 1am, 2am, 3am…whenever it’s your turn: you and your team must run!

“Training has been amazing. Everyone is so committed to their training, running most days and also running multiple times on the same day – day after day to get the legs used to the endless stopping and starting with not a huge amount of rest in between. We’re ready, we’re all so ready!”

The Mighty Titans will set off on their challenge on Saturday 28th July. To donate and support them, visit:  www.justgiving.com/fundraising/themightylejog

The team also have a  Facebook page  where you can follow their progress: www.facebook.com/themightylejog