Race Across Scotland: A continuous run of eight marathons
A Jersey restaurateur is running eight marathons back to back to raise money for the international disaster relief charity, Shelterbox.
Mathew Carver, 36, from St Clement, took up running during lockdown to combat the stress of closing his restaurants.
He’s preparing to take part in Race Across Scotland which is a 215-mile run from Portpatrick on the west coast of Scotland to Cockburnspath on the east coast along the Southern Upland Way.
The epic race has a time limit of 100 hours. It means runners face little sleep and very steep hills.
Mathew was Inspired by the work that ShelterBox is doing in Turkey and Syria. The charity provided support people made homeless by the earthquakes.
He will be starting on Saturday 12 August aims to complete the challenge in 65 hours.
‘I got into running during lockdown as a stress release,’ explains Mathew. ‘There’s nothing more stressful than closing all your restaurants indefinitely. It’s fair to say I’ve been bitten by the running bug since then.’
Now based in London and championing British cheese with his business The Cheese Bar, Mathew has been spending any spare time he has preparing for his challenge.
Training six days a week
‘I’ve been running a lot. I’m training six days a week and on three of those days I’m running twice a day to get as many miles in my legs as possible and to ensure I have the endurance to complete this challenge.’
‘I’ve been getting up to Scotland as much as I can to run sections of the Southern Upland Way and get to know the route and terrain.’
‘The furthest I’ve previously run is about 45 miles, this will be five times that distance. I’m excited and nervous in equal measure.’
The money Mathew raises will be donated to ShelterBox, which specialises in emergency shelter aid for disaster affected people.
ShelterBox provides different combinations of emergency shelter aid, support and essential items.
This includes items like tents, tarpaulins, tool kits, blankets, mosquito nets, solar lights, cooking sets, water carriers and filters.
The charity is currently responding to the worst drought to hit east Africa in 40 years, monsoon flooding in Pakistan along with the war in Ukraine.
100 million people displaced each year due to conflict or disaster
‘Every year more than 100 million people have to leave behind their homes because of conflict or disaster,’ says Louisa Arnold, Community Fundraising Officer for Shelterbox.
‘We provide emergency shelter and other essential items, to give people a starting point to recovery.’
‘Every response is different, and we tailor our aid packages to the needs of disaster affected people, listening to what communities need.’
‘None of it is possible without our supporters, like Mathew, who help raise funds and awareness and we’re so excited for his epic challenge across Scotland.’
ShelterBox supports people who have had to flee their homes, or had them damaged, because of extreme weather events or due to conflict.
The charity is currently working in Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Mozambique.
To support Matthew, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/raceacrossscotland-mc