The Hardest Ultra Marathons Can Bring You To Your Knees…

The 16:15 Charity Run Aims To Raise People Up

There is a time in every endurance runner’s life when the relatively minuscule distance they have left seems like Pheidippides’ run from Marathon to Athens.

The unfortunate Greek messenger actually collapsed and died after completing the long-distance journey that inspired the modern marathon.

And while it may only feel like that could be our fate, we all share some of his pain.

Not least in those moments when, legs like jelly and heart aching, we realise the 5km we have to go may as well be fifty – and could take just as long to complete.

When Every Step Feels Impossible

For me, I had echoes of that feeling during the two marathons I have completed, but it really struck home when taking the final flagging steps on my first ultra marathon.

There are some who might say a 50km race isn’t really an ultra, especially when it isn’t even an official event. Or a race, for that matter.

But I haven’t had a prouder moment than when I finished the 16:15 Charity Run for the first time in 2023.

The Challenge of the 16:15 Charity Run

Essentially the event is a fundraiser, championing awareness and bringing in funds for Project 16:15, a rough sleeper charity in my home town of Northampton, England. It’s an organisation which I am proud to be a Trustee of and which does incredible work to support those people who live on our streets.

For the first two years of the event – 2023 and last year – the event was held over six hours, with the aim being for people to run as far or as short a distance as they liked over that time period.

The personal part of the challenge for me was completing 50k on both occasions, but let me tell you the hardest part is setting out to run the same loop round a park for the sixteenth or seventeenth time when all you want to do is sit in the aid tent and eat your bodyweight in sweets or sausages, or both.

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From Six Hours to 10K: Evolution of the Run

This year, the decision has been made to turn the 16:15 Charity Run into a 10k event. The idea, backed by supporters of the run, is that it will be more accessible and there can be a medal ceremony and presentation at the end of the event that everyone can easily attend.

In either case, what is certainly true is that even the pain of the last few steps of the world’s longest ultras can’t even start to compare to that suffered by those who live – and die – on the street.

In the UK, the life expectancy for rough sleepers is 45 for men and 43 for women. While on our streets they have to deal with everything from addiction to abuse on a daily basis.

They are spat at, raped, verbally abused, ignored and dismissed. They are stripped of the dignity they inherently deserve – and the chances in life so many of us take for granted.

Stories from the Streets: The Reality of Rough Sleepers

In a previous job, I worked as a reporter in Northampton, often covering stories on homelessness and rough sleeping. I was lucky enough to meet and talk to some of the people on our streets, learning their stories and discovering how easy it is to end up in the same situation.

I’ve spoken to rough sleepers who’ve had their tents set on fire, been kicked or abused by people leaving pubs and nightclubs, and been shunned by the authorities they hoped would help them because the postcode of their last property didn’t fit the necessary criteria.

On Running Tales, I often hear stories of incredible runners who have overcome addiction or mental health problems. So often, it would only have taken one more wrong turn for them to end up homeless rather than at the finish line of a 50- or 100-mile race.

Why Every Step Matters

One of the rough sleepers who I spoke to – and who inspired the launch of the 16:15 Charity Run – was George Murray. George slept rough on the town’s streets for many years, but sadly passed away not too long after having been found his own flat.

A hugely well-known and popular figure on Northampton’s streets, he had actually refused to take shelter when a vicious cold snap hit the town in 2017. It was those freezing conditions – known as the Beast from the East – that also bolstered the desire of Stan Robertson to help rough sleepers in the town.

Stan had formed Project 16:15 not long prior to the cold spell arriving, delivering food and hot drinks to people in the early hours of the morning. More importantly, the charity aimed – and aims – to bring those rough sleepers dignity, self-respect, value and worth.

Not so long ago, he told me every rough sleeper he was serving breakfast to back in 2017 is now, happily, in accommodation or, tragically, has died. It is a stark choice.

Join the Movement: How You Can Help

It may only be 10k this year, but that’s something I’ll be thinking about throughout every second of the 16:15 Charity Run.

• This year’s run takes place in Northampton, England on Saturday, April 12. Anyone is free to take place as long as they fundraise just £25. You can sponsor Craig here.