Good luck Olly! Henry, Becs, Oliver and Gabs x
Olly Westray's Story
On Saturday 10th May 2025, I will be running an “ultra” marathon along the beautiful coastline of East Devon, from Dartmouth all the way to Exmouth. My route will be 100 kilometres, 62 miles or 2.3 marathons in distance - whichever way you want to look at it! Put it this way, it’s a VERY long way!
Despite the distance, I am doing it in one day and starting this on my own at the crack of dawn in Dartmouth and finishing at Charlie’s Beach School in Exmouth (hopefully!) around 12 hours later. I'll be running most of it along the challenging South West Coast Path so the terrain will be incredibly hilly, muddy and rocky!
Most importantly, why am I doing this outlandish run? I am running in memory of a little legend called Charlie Duignan. Charlie was a good school friend of my son Otis who sadly passed away in January 2024 from a grade 4 Medulloblastoma brain tumour. Charlie was only 8 years old.
Charlie absolutely loved the beach and the sea, so Charlie's family have set up an incredible charity in Exmouth called Charlie's Beach School to keep his memory alive. The beach school aims primarily to help children, both local and visiting, by giving them access to the beach and seaside in a positive, fun and informative way. The beach school’s vision is to get as many children interested in visiting the beach as possible, particularly those children who have not been given that opportunity before. Like most small charities, Charlie's Beach school depends on the generosity of the public, so any funds I raise will be so important to the running of the beach school.
Charlie also loved his sport, so I thought a BEAST of a run in his memory would be very fitting. I have also managed to persuade his Dad (David) and his beloved teacher (Miss Cara) to join me for the last 10k of the run. Charlie's football team (the mighty Lympstone FC U10's) and his rugby team (the formidable Exmouth U10's) will also be joining me for the last 2k….. as well as some of the coaches I am told!
Training is going well. I did the South Devon trail marathon in January and a 50k ultra across Dartmoor in February. It is now all about increasing my distances up until the big day in May.
What do I need from you…? Your well hard-earned cash! Hopefully you consider this challenge, challenging enough, so you will dig deep…..like I will have to!
Please donate as much as you can spare, but…..
If you could donate 50p per kilometre that would be amazing.
If you could donate £1 per kilometre that would be “ultra” amazing.
If you could donate more than that … I’ll give you a big sweaty hug at the end!
Also, if you’re local and would like to join me on my run (anywhere from 1k to 100k!) on the 10th May, please let me know. I would love and welcome as many running buddies as possible.
Oh, and one last thing, we will be having a big party at the finishing line at Charlie’s Beach School around 6 pm to (hopefully) celebrate this group achievement but more importantly to raise a glass to Charlie and his beach school!
Thank you all for taking the time and considering sponsoring this magnificent challenge!
Thank you SO much to everybody who has donated to this amazing charity. The £10,000 raised will really make a massive difference. There are still 6 weeks to go until the big day so I’m hoping to raise even more!
On Friday I ran 41 miles of the course (8 hours of running) to have a mental and physical “warm up”. It is a stunning run but there are also far more hills than I envisaged, I had a run in with a very muddy bog and it made me realise how far I’ll actually be running!
Thank you again for all your support, it is greatly appreciated and a massive motivation for me in the final stage of my training.
Olly x
Fundraising complete! 100k Run for Charlie has reached 100% of the target!
Almost there! 100k Run for Charlie has reached 75% of the target!
At the half way mark! 100k Run for Charlie has reached 50% of the target!
Making great progress, 100k Run for Charlie has reached 25% of the target!
100k Run for Charlie has received a donation, donate to this cause to help reach the fundraising target!
Olly Westray has launched a fundraising campaign, show your support with a donation!