The Philanthropy and Engagement teams launched this challenge to raise £10,000 to support mental health provisions at Loughborough. The target was reached on day one of the challenge, and now stands at triple that. 

More than one thousand people have generously donated to the challenge, supporting friends and colleagues in their tremendous exercise efforts. 

Leading the challenge was Alumni Advisory Board member, Alex Laybourne. A former resident of Falkner Eggington Hall, Alex brought together more than 30 Falk Egg alumni and students to participate in the challenge, and he set the team an initial target of £2,500.  

The Falk Egg Old Boys quickly exceeded that target and have now raised over £14,500, with two participants raising more than £2,000 each. Current Falk Egg Hall Chair, Abigail Hampson, also took part and raised £395. 

 Alex, who himself ran 100km, said: “It’s been an incredible effort. The participants have been absolutely amazing. A massive thank you goes out to all the people who have supported the participants and for the donations we have had.” 

Many other challenge participants figured 10k was not enough and opted for 100k challenges. 

One such participant was current PhD student, Nathan Ritchie, who shared his passion for supporting student mental health throughout the challenge. Sharing daily updates and facts about the mental health of doctoral researchers, Nathan ran more than 100km over the ten days, and raised £870, the largest student fundraising total. 

Staff teams also took on the challenge, with the Academic Leadership Team and the Associate Deans for Research (Team ADR+) both raising more than £1,000 each. They teamed up to run, walk or cycle hundreds of kilometres between them, and there may have been a little competition between the teams, too.

The Pro Vice-Chancellors completed the challenge as a relay, and between them ran over 100km during the 10-day period. Professor Steve Rothberg, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, championed the challenge from the start, saying: “Our own excellent Loughborough research tells us how important exercise is for good mental health and wellbeing and that’s never been more important now than it is now in the pandemic.”  

A team from the Loughborough Design School also took part, raising over £400. Some members of the seven-person team stuck to walking and running, whilst Andrew May did 1,000 juggles, Andrew Pooley did 1,000 push-ups, and Nikki Clark combined walking with mindful yoga.