Peter Midgley and Mark Oliver are not your normal runners, in fact for a long part of their lives they had a mutual disregard for it. In September 2019 I was approached by a close friend who challenged me to complete “Rat Race The Wall in 2019”, a challenge to complete a 69 mile run from Carlisle to Newcastle in 24 hours. I immediately said NO.

The following day I was in Scarborough and I reminded myself of a previous conversation I had with a friend who works at Woodlands Academy Trust in Scarborough, a special needs school for pupils aged 2-16 with a wide range of needs. This includes moderate, Learning difficulties, speech and language difficulties, autism and some medical difficulties.

I remembered once promising that at some point we should do joint charity event, to raise money for the trust. I subsequently contacted Mark and challenged him to complete the Rat Race with me. After time to think, Mark accepted and I subsequently signed us both up.

It was not until I visited the Academy that Mark fully understood the challenge in front of us. He thought he had signed up to complete half of it. I do half and he does half. ops, that was a silly error anyway no turning back now!

During this visit, I was truly inspired by some of the children  their Journeys, they have been on. The passion and commitment Mark has along with fellow colleagues for the progress and well-being of pupils at the Academy is truly remarkable and is something which can only inspire me to really try my best in my challenges throughout 2019.

I knew instantly that this would be a worthwhile cause and help improve and enrich the lives of young people who have already had to cope with so much. 

Any donation small or big would be appreciated by all at the Academy. 

Thank you.