Hi everyone!

Thank you for wanting to read up on my next challenge, which will be the biggest test (physically, mentally, spiritually, you name it...) I have ever attempted.

I plan to run, shuffle, plod or even crawl a marathon distance (26.2 miles) every day for 7 days in 7 UK cities in April 2025, in the hope of raising money for The Children’s Bereavement Centre in Newark.

This is a fantastic charity supporting children who have lost parents or caregivers by providing counselling and other vital activities.

I will need to cover a full marathon distance and then get myself to another UK city to cover it again

Every day for 7 days.

Which is 183.4 miles on foot in total

I’m calling it:

Alistair's 7x7x7

The dates and cities planned are:

12/04/25 Brighton

13/04/25 London

14/04/25 Oxford

15/14/25 Birmingham

16/04/25 Manchester

17/04/25 Leeds

18/04/25 Nottingham

I will try to incorporate the routes devised by the organisers of the cities marathons if feasible; but I also want to take in the best of the cities as I judge things along the way, allowing for diversions through a park or a tree-lined alleyway if the mood takes.

This is, of course, allowing for traffic (obviously they’re not going to close any roads for me), sensible meeting points along the route for check-ins, rehydration and refuelling to ensure safety.

I will use public transport only to get from one place to the next.

My eldest daughter, Alex, will act as support crew throughout to help with logistics, supplies, navigation, to keep things safe and to (hopefully) keep me sane.

I would also welcome anyone to join me for parts of the route if we’re in a town near you!

You can follow me on Strava, Instagram and Just Giving, which Alex or I will be updating regularly.

I will be running to raise funds for the Children’s Bereavement Centre in Newark, in memory of Dr Philippa Veale, a great friend and a wonderful human being, who passed away in 2018.