Ultra X (Global events company) has launched its most ambitious community challenge to date, #RunAroundTheWorldWithKev, which will see the running community take on the circumference of the world, 24,901 miles, in one day* on New Year’s Eve.
The event is in support of the charity Prostate Cancer UK and Kevin Webber, 55, who was told he had two years to live after being diagnosed with incurable prostate cancer in 2014.
“Here I am, six years later running ultra marathons,” Kevin says. “We have two lives, and the second one begins when you realise you only have one.”
One in eight men get prostate cancer in the UK and a man dies every 45 minutes, making it the most common cancer in men.
Ultra X co-founder, Sam Heward, says: “Kevin Webber is a great friend of ours. Last October he took on and smashed Ultra X Jordan. He is a wonderful man and a constant beacon of light. It’s important that we support him the best we can and recruiting the running community is a great way to do that.”
*The #RunAroundTheWorldWithKev challenge will begin when the first place on earth starts New Year’s Eve (Samoa) and ends when the last place on earth hits the New Year (Baker Islands in the Pacific). In GMT, this is 10:00 on Wednesday 30th December until 12:00 on Friday 1st January. There will be 50hrs to cover the 24,901 miles.
If 1,000 runners take part, each runner will need to run or walk on average 24.9 miles, almost the distance of a marathon. If 2,000 runners take part, the average distance becomes a more manageable 12.45 miles, and so on.
Sam adds: “As this is a truly global challenge we want to ensure that as many people all over the world can take part. Mum, dad, your sisters, brothers, aunties, uncles, daughters, sons, even stick a garmin on your dog, we will need everyone we know to make this happen.”
Twelve hours before the challenge begins, Ultra X will email those who have registered, letting them know how many miles on average to aim for. But participants are encouraged to run or walk as little or as far as they like.
Participants will be asked to pay £5 upon registration, all proceeds will go to Prostate Cancer UK. Once registered, they will be sent a link to join Ultra X’s Challenge Platform (Challenge Hound) which will link to the participant’s GPS and tally up every single mile covered. Alternatively, participants can manually upload. The tracker will show real-time updates on how far around the world the community is at any one time.
To join Ultra X and Kevin in the fight against Prostate Cancer, enter the challenge here: https://ultra-x.co/runaroundtheworldwithkev/
