Half marathon runner - she/her Alice Fortune

For years, running has done amazing things for my mental health. I wanted to take this a step further by running to support other people’s mental health too. I am a medical student, joining an NHS which is not able to provide support quickly and effectively enough for young people struggling with their mental health when they need it.

I hope my challenge will raise both money and awareness for the overwhelming number of young people struggling with mental illness, particularly following the COVID-19 lockdowns, and the need to improve funding and infrastructure in the health system that supports them.

I was inspired to do this challenge as I picked up running at 20 years old, and since then have come to love it. It has hugely helped my own mental health and confidence, and I wanted to do this challenge to help other young people’s mental health too.

To complete the challenge, I ran a full marathon in London, with over 20 people joining me for parts of the run, and another 20+ people meeting me at the finish line.

I’ve had several people tell me they were inspired to start running after seeing my challenge - and how this has helped their mental health.