Motivation

Running 52 UK Cities For Mental Health With Mizuno

Supported by Sportsshoes and Mizuno, 22-year-old University student Alice Fortune, is aiming to run a half marathon in all 52 cities in England in aid of the Young Minds mental health charity.

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Our Sportsshoes Ambassador Ben Mounsey spoke to Alice to find out more;

Hi Alice, running a half marathon in all 52 of England’s cities sounds like a great challenge, please can you tell us more about why you are doing this?

There are currently 51 cities in England and soon to be 52, as Southend-on-Sea is being added to the list, so I’ll be running a total of nearly 1,100km (around 650 miles). I plan to do this over the next two years, whilst I finish my degree, with the aim of raising as much money for YoungMinds as possible.

YoungMinds is a UK-based charity which works to provide mental health support to young people in the UK. This brilliant charity is campaigning to ensure that every young person in the UK gets the mental health support they need, when they need it, and to stop young people’s mental health reaching a crisis point. Doing this challenge allows me to put my love for running to some good, by raising money for a cause that I am passionate about. My aim is to raise as much money for YoungMinds as possible.

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Obviously, there is a lot of planning involved. How are you doing this?

I started planning this in Summer 2021 and my running is going well. At the time of writing (Mid-March 2022) I have completed 11 runs in 11 different cities – over 20% of the challenge.

My plan for the rest of the challenge is as follows:

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TRAVEL

Wherever I can I’ll be getting a train to each city and back. This means I’ll be travelling in a much more environmentally friendly way than if I drove everywhere. Sitting for hours in motorway traffic with my legs cramping up after two hours of running does also not sound appealing!

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TIME

Travelling to each city will be the most time-consuming part of the challenge. I estimate I’ll spend about 120 hours on trains and buses in total, and that’s without any delays! Working around my university finals exams and building in time for potential injuries means I’m not aiming to finish this challenge in a specific timeframe, but I think it will take me about two years to complete.

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FUNDING

A huge thank you to Sportsshoes and Mizuno who are sponsoring my challenge by providing my full running kit including trainers.

So that all money donated will go to YoungMinds, I’ll be funding all travel for this challenge myself. I had hoped that one or two of the train companies I’ll be regularly travelling with might offer me some discounted tickets to help reduce travel expenses, but so far my numerous emails and requests have had no success. Regardless, I feel it is a worthy investment as this is something I am determined to do and it will be a great experience.

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DOUBLE HALF MARATHONS

There are several cities that are really far away from where I live, but close to each other in distance. In order to save money and time for these, I will travel down to one city, run there, stay overnight, then travel to and run in a second nearby city the next day, before travelling home. This reduces my carbon footprint, halves my travel and accommodation costs for these cities but means I’ll be running a full marathon over two days! If you know a thing or two about long distance running and have any training tips to share, please drop me a message (contact details below). I need all the help I can get with this.

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Let’s talk about kit, what shoes and apparel have you been wearing?

Back in December I received a very exciting delivery from Sportsshoes and Mizuno containing some of their running clothes and shoes - huge thank you to them for providing all of this for my challenge!

Here’s a review of my gear after running in it for a few months:

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MIZUNO WAVE RIDER 25 RUNNING SHOES

Lightweight and super comfy over long distances. These are similar to Asics which I’ve always been a big fan of. The Mizuno Wave Rider 25 is a deeper fit compared to the Asics GT’s and Kayano’s, which I think adds comfort around your feet. No blisters or rubbing when I used these for the first time, but that may also be thanks to the Mizuno running socks which are so comfy and feel very high quality. I’ve also got these trainers caked in mud a few times already and they scrub up well quite easily.

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CLICK HERE TO SHOP ALL MIZUNO WAVE RIDER 25 RUNNING SHOES

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Pictured: Mizuno Wave Rider 25 Running Shoes

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APPAREL

I’ve been wearing the quarter-zips and jacket (pictured). The quarter-zips are fantastic as the length is great and they feel very lightweight and breathable, whilst also adding a good amount of warmth. They’re a good layer to throw on when it’s cold. I really like the lighter shade of purple down the arms too. The coat (pictured) is also very lightweight; it feels thin but definitely adds a good amount of warmth as well as keeping you dry.

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CLICK HERE TO SHOP ALL MIZUNO APPAREL

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Sizing: I found that the Waverider 25 trainers fit very slightly smaller than Asics, so if you’re usually between 2 sizes then I would size up, but otherwise your normal size would be fine. The T-shirts, quarter zips and coat are all great even if you’re petite - I am 5 foot 0 and the XS’s all fit me well. The bottoms however (shorts and leggings) are a better fit if you are taller, as I found these didn’t fit me so well.

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WANT TO GET INVOLVED?

Here’s to throwing myself into something that’s probably insane and definitely out of my comfort zone. To make this all worthwhile, please DONATE here if you can - thank you!

Do you want to run with Alice or get involved in helping her raise money for Young Minds? Or have any training tips/advice?

You can contact her via email at running52cities@gmail.com or via Instagram and Twitter.

This challenge is supported by Sportsshoes and Mizuno UK.

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Are you feeling inspired? Then join our SportsShoes Strava Run Club and become part of our inclusive community.
And for more inspirational tips to become stronger, better and happier, then check out our Motivation category. Because it’s no fun standing still.