Hastings running club’s serial fundraisers moved to extremes

Take Nigel Thornley, who last weekend led a core team of seven – take a bow Cassie, Peter, Maria, Mickey, Sally, Steve and Wendy – with the aim of raising £1066 for the Hastings and Rother premises of St Michael’s Hospice (the same charity supported by the club’s Five Mile race the week before).

The group named itself the Sunshiners – although they saw plenty of rain overnight – after the collective name adopted by many of them in December 2015 when they established a Guinness World Record for the longest distance danced in a conga line 6.9 miles (11.2km).

The challenge? To walk 106.6km east and west along the coast in a day. The group started by EHSAA on Hastings Seafront on Saturday – and finished at the same spot 23 hours and 22 minutes later having (allegedly) being delayed only by alien abduction in the Norman’s Bay area. In old money, they covered 66.86 miles. In current money, they raised £1,137 (at time of writing).

Last Sunday, even as many Hastings Runners were among the hundreds taking part in the annual 3k Race For Life in Alexandra Park in aid of Cancer Research UK, another iof HR’s serial fundraisers, Joe Cruttenden, announced that on Saturday, July 19, he would be undertaking a fundraising run for the people of Al-Mawasi in Southern Gaza. Many Hastings residents will be familiar with the town’s links to Al-Mawasi – a small town near Khan Younis – due to the Hastings Friends of Al-Mawasi group.

Their collective support has prompted Cruttenden to run from Rye Harbour to Chichester Harbour – the whole length of the Sussex coastline, which is about 130 miles. He appreciates how unlikely it is that anyone would want to join him for the complete distance, but it seems likely that Various HR members will join him for different stages.

“The big difference with this fundraiser,” he says, “is that 100 per cent of all donations will go directly to the people of Al-Mawasi through well-established links that have been in place for several years.”

If you wish to donate, visit GoFundMe.com and search “Hastings Friends of Al Mawasi”.

In the coming weeks, Hastings Runners will also rally to support the annual Oliver Curd Charity Fun Run And Walk, held on the evening of Friday, July 11, organised by Will Withecombe and bookable through Nice Work. Mark the date – and more on this nearer the time.