⚽ The Pitch to Pavement Challenge: Running the 2026 World Cup for MIND 🏃‍♂️

I’m a primary school teacher, and for 39 days this summer, I am letting the 2026 World Cup dictate my life, my mornings, and the absolute destruction of my legs.

Why I’m doing this:

Working in a primary school, I see firsthand that mental health is an increasing and urgent issue among our children. The pressures they face are growing, and the need for support is greater than ever. MIND does incredible work ensuring that no one—whether a child, a parent, or a teacher—has to face a mental health problem alone. I wanted to take on a challenge that tests my physical resilience to support the vital mental resilience that MIND helps build every single day.

The Challenge:

Starting on June 11th, I will be running the entire World Cup scoreline. Whatever happens on the pitch dictates my mileage the very next day.

To make it interesting (and significantly more painful), here are the rules:

The Baseline: 1 goal scored = 1km run.

The Goalless Penalty: If a match ends in a 0-0 draw, I am punished with a 5km run.

The Knockout Double: When the group stages end, the stakes rise. Every goal scored in the knockouts counts double (1 goal = 2km).

The Reality:

Because the World Cup has expanded to 104 matches this year, I am looking at running roughly 400 kilometres (250 miles) over five weeks. If we get a day with a 6-goal thriller and a 0-0 draw, I’ll be lacing up for a cheeky 11km.

How you can help:

Please donate whatever you can. Every single pound goes directly to MIND to fund their life-changing mental health services.

Plus, your donation buys you the ultimate entertainment this summer: every time a striker blasts a ball into the back of the net, or a match agonizingly drags to a 0-0 finish, you get to smile knowing that I have to run it off the next morning.

Thank you for your support!