Hastings athletes: We got round the Equator in 41 days

HY Runners have completed their mission of running the equivalent of an entire lap of the Earth’s equator.
Clocking up the milesClocking up the miles
Clocking up the miles

But instead of taking them 80 days, they did on in just 41 days.

Not only did they smash their time target but they also exceeded expectations of raising an anticipated £10,000 for charity.

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As it stands they have raised more than £11,240 to Support St Michael’s Hospice whose supply line from fundraising has been decimated as a result of the pandemic.

HY Runners ready for their round-the-world finaleHY Runners ready for their round-the-world finale
HY Runners ready for their round-the-world finale

A total of 232 runners took part in covering the total of 24,901 miles. This included 54 juniors, Hastings MP Sally Ann Hart, a runner in Spain and two international athletes in Dubai. HY Runners averaged 607 miles a day for 41 days.

On three separate days they exceeded 1000 miles in a day.

The juniors ran a total of 1,405 miles, and eight runners ran every day – including Fiona Buxton, from one of our major sponsors, Kiley’s Carpets.

The challenge was finished off in fine style on the final day as HY athlete and competetion prize winner Laura Dearsley was invited along with St Michael’s Hospice chief fundraiser Rebbecah Futral to run the very last mile.

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The stage was set and the ladies were set off from Kileys Carpets by director/owner Dain Jenson, from where they headed through Silverhill, via Sedlescombe Road South, The Green and Upper Maze Hill to the finish line at St Michael’s Hospice.

Fellow HY runners donned their now famous red sweaters to line the streets and come out in support to clap and cheer the two runners on as they passed.

At the finish line, staff members were there to greet the ladies with a carnival-style jamboree of crashing pots, pans and whistles, while at the end a prize draw was held to win a hamper which was kindly donated by the hospice for one lucky HY Runners member.

The winner of the hamper was a lasy called Ivy and it was a classy touch from St Michael’s and was gratefully received by Ivy – and all at the club loved the gesture.

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The club managed to video the entire final day and upload it live on to Facebook where several members of the public tuned in to watch the spectacle.

All of this was done in strict complience with social distancing measures.

HY runners head coach Terry Skelton said: “After all of the great work that has been done over the previous 40 days it was so important to finish this challenge on a high and even more important that we did the final task by sticking to the rules.

“I am proud of our club and even more so that they managed to achieve all of this by complying with social distancing measures.”

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He praised his team and everyone involved in the incredible achievement, adding: “Thank you to every single one of you that have taken the time to run and walk to raise money for St Michael’s Hospice, which is so severely short of funds due to the pandemic.

“Special thanks to Stewart Ide who has been amazing in raising the profile of this cause, John Bridger, our mastermind statistician for calculating all the mileage and Elouise Kempton for her help with Instagram.

“A huge shoutout to our sponsors Kileys Carpets, PCM Estate Agents, Dr Hannah Hughes, Hastings Direct and Edmundson Electrical. To the songbirds Riz, Jessica and Jemma (and Kitson) to Darren Ribs Rogers for creating the song video. Well done also to Laura and Rebecca for running the last mile. I am so proud of this running club and its achievements.”