6 June 2022 Fundraising
A pair of personal trainers are celebrating after setting a new record for running the most marathons in consecutive days and raising more than £31,000 for their chosen charities – the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association and Macmillan Cancer Support.
Fay Cunningham, 35, and Emma Petrie, 26, completed their 106th marathon in 106 days at the weekend and are hoping to raise £100,000 in memory of Fay’s father, Alan who died of MND, and Emma’s mum, Jan who died of cancer.
The duo originally set out on 19 February to attempt 100 marathons in 100 days and break the world record but during the challenge they were forced to up their total as another runner completed 104 marathons, which increased Fay and Emma’s target to beat.
Reflecting on the challenge, Fay said:
“Motor neurone disease is a debilitating disease that stops you doing lots of things and my dad was a big inspiration to me through my life and encouraged me to do sport. He got me into running and I thought that while I still can run, I want to do a challenge.”
“We’re both very much aware of how short life can be and the ability to run or walk doesn’t always stay with you forever. Before our parents’ respective illnesses, they were fit, active people and were instrumental in who we are today.”
“There have been two unverified attempts on the world record for the most consecutive marathons run by a female so we decided to ensure we would break the record by adding six more marathons to get to 106 marathons in 106 days. At first we couldn’t get our head around doing any more than 100 but once we had the time to think about it, we saw it as a huge positive to hit 100 marathons and to keep going. We wanted to inspire people to do something big and this just makes our challenge even bigger.”
Emma, added:
“This journey has taught us that the body is incredible and our message of ‘do it while you can’ helped us push through each day knowing we have the opportunity to do this.”
“One of the most incredible parts of this whole challenge has been having the time to chat to people and pass the miles together, it really is a team effort and the support has been unbelievable.”
Speaking about the challenge Regional Fundraiser for the MND Association, Dominic McDonough, said:
“Having followed Fay and Em throughout their challenge we have been astounded by their strength and determination. Running a marathon every single day is incredible and they have faced it all with a smile. The money and awareness they have raised will help countless people living with MND and we are so proud of them.”
Women break world record by running 106 marathons in 106 days https://t.co/1AGvqELFWV
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 5, 2022
If you’d like to donate to the pair’s challenge, you can do so below.
Donate to the 100 Marathons in 100 Days Collection Pot