Woman to run 1,500 miles from Shetland to Penzance in hospice fundraiser

A woman is running the length of the British Isles to raise money for a hospice care charity.

Faith Addison will run 1,500 miles from Shetland to Penzance in Cornwall – the equivalent of over 57 marathons – in 42 days. She begins the challenge on August 26.

“This will be a solo, unsupported run covering over a marathon a day, along some of the UK’s iconic long-distance trails, with my camping gear on my back,” said Miss Addison.

“If I manage to cover a minimum of 36 miles per day this should take me six weeks.”

The 34-year-old, who used to live in Stroud, Gloucestershire, but now lives in Shetland, is raising money for Longfield Hospice Care because the charity is supporting her godfather Larry Leighton, who has Parkinson’s disease.

“This isn’t an easy challenge. It’s going to be tough. But if I raise valuable funds for my godfather’s chosen charity Longfield it will be worth it.

“In my godfather’s words, ‘they are wonderful’,” said Miss Addison, who works as a locum pharmacist throughout the UK.

Besides supporting the Longfield charity, she will also raise funds for Parkinson’s UK.

This is not the first time she has set herself a feat.

She has twice cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats and climbed the three highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales.

When she turned 30, she used the money she had saved for a house deposit on her dream holiday – cycling around the world.

Miss Addison spent 30 months – 11 of them in New Zealand, a country she fell in love with – on her epic journey.

Despite being hit by a car, being hospitalised and having to cycle the last 7,000km home in midwinter conditions, she said it was easy and she loved every minute of it.

The hardest part, she said, was buying the one-way ticket to New Zealand.

“When I turned 30 I was looking to buy a house but a friend asked me if there was anything I had always wanted to do before settling, and I said cycle across the world. So I did it,” she said.

Her taste for adventure and travel started early.

“When I was 11 or 12 my parents allowed my older brother, a cousin and myself to cycle from Stroud to the Black Mountains on our own in just one day,” she said.

“It was a 50-mile bike ride. I just loved the adventures. My parents allowed us to have so much freedom as children and holidays were always spontaneous, and that love of adventure and freedom has stayed with me.”

Miss Addison is aiming to raise £3,000. You can make a donation and follow her progress at: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=FaithAddison&pageUrl=1

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