London-based professional running coach Ed Kerry, says the plan for this epic Castle to Castle UK & Eire running challenge is inspired by losing his sister Tracey in 2003 when she was just 34, to a brain tumour. She left a husband and two young children.
As he approached 34 himself, this milestone has crystallised the plans for Ed and the green light has been given to the Castle to Castle challenge taking place over 22 days in August.
This will involve Ed taking on a mammoth running route that starts at the Tower of London.
The route will then take him to some of the UK and Ireland's most historic castles: Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin, Cardiff and back to the Tower of London completing this epic circuit.
Ed said: “When my sister passed away she was only 34. It seemed like an appropriate time to do something to both remember my sisters and to help others avoid the loss that my family and I faced.
“This challenge has been sitting in the back of my head for a number of years but there was always an excuse to say ‘next year’.
“Finally I realised that I had to stop thinking and just do it!”
Ed heads up a successful running business, The Run Doctor. Since establishing the brand after his career in the Royal Air Force, Ed has completed many ultramarathons, including the arduous Marathon des Sables, a “truly incredible, life-changing experience” he says.
The Castle to Castle challenge begins this August 2017, with a £50,000 fundraising target for The Brain Tumour Charity.
Geraldine Pipping, The Brain Tumour Charity’s Director of Fundraising, said: “Ed has devised the ultimate running challenge, a unique and uniquely testing event. His motivation and determination are just inspirational.
“As a charity, we receive no government funding and rely 100% on voluntary donations and gifts in Wills.
“It’s only through the efforts of people such as Ed and his family and all those who support him, that we can work towards our twin goals of doubling survival and halving the harm caused by brain tumours.
“Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and people under 40 in the UK and survival rates have not improved significantly over the last 40 years.
“We will change this shocking statistic”
