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The British Heart Foundation is launching a new fundraising campaign, MyMarathon, encouraging Brits to run their own marathon this May and help raise money for life-changing research.
According to new statistics, released as part of the British Heart Foundation’s new fundraising challenge, 48% of women become breathless when running for a bus, while one in three women have never ran more than a mile. For almost a third of women (31%), even walking up a flight of stairs leaves them breathless.
Heart and circulatory disease affects around 7 million people in the UK and is responsible for 155,000 deaths a year in our nation.
The new campaign aims to fulfil BHF’s s ambition to fund half a billion pounds of new research in the next five years, to accelerate the fight against heart disease.
Participants are encouraged to complete a full 26.2-mile marathon, in their own time. This could be over a few hours, a few days, or a few weeks, in whatever locations. BHF urges participants to run before work, on their lunch break or whenever they can fit it in, and encourages all abilities to get involved. All that’s needed is for partipants to set up a fundraising page and encourage sponsorship.
Christopher Allen, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the BHF, said: “Running a marathon is no easy feat, but with the MyMarathon challenge you decide the place and the pace, so it’s a great way for people of all fitness levels to get active and help support our vital research. Now everyone can say they’ve run a marathon this May!”
GB athlete and former Commonwealth Heptathlon Champion Louise Hazel is backing the campaign after losing her father to heart disease at just 50 years old. Louise said: “Millions of lives across the UK have been devastated by heart disease. I know first-hand how terrible heart disease can be, and the important role research is playing in helping to end that suffering.”
To get involved with MyMarathon, visit: bhf.org.uk/mymarathon
