Students Run 1440 Laps Daily for Movember

A group of University of Cardiff students are running 1,440 laps of their garden daily to raise money for Movember. This comes after two of the group received positive COVID-19 test results. The 8 students are putting their isolation to good use and have already raised over £2,000 in just 6 days.

1,440 men commit suicide every single day across the globe. To raise awareness about this horrific fact, the second-year students are running 1,440 laps around their garden daily. This will continue for 10 days of their isolation period. Recent exposure to the effects of suicide were what, in part, inspired the 5.4km daily runs that each student will complete.

With their original target of £1,440 met in just 2 days, the group upped their goal to £2,000. However, by day 5, even this amount had been raised! The group’s Movember donation page is now heading for a whopping £2,250!

Despite suffering blisters and grazes, the students are passionate that the project is not only benefitting the charity but themselves personally. One of the students claimed that it was a way for them to utilise the Welsh lockdown:

“Lockdown has shown us the negative impacts that (lockdown) can create. We’ve had to go through something quite testing together. It’s encouraging us to talk more than ever, and shown how we need to be there for each other”.

Luke Firkin

The Cardiff students even received an inspiring zoom call from Made in Chelsea’s Joshua ‘JP’ Patterson. Following this, they decided to push themselves further on day 4 of their challenge. In order to do this, and to reflect the “millions globally that carry something daily”, such as the weight of a mental illness, the students ran carrying various household objects. Amongst these were an egg, a weight, and a plastic barrier (in true student style)!

The young men of the group have also completed their runs wearing full CUFC kits.

The students hope to inspire people to take mental health more seriously:

“We want (other students) to be open, check on your mates and donate!”

Luke Firkin

The male students of the house will also continue their fundraising throughout November by growing moustaches.

Ways To Support:

To donate to Movember, supporting mental health and suicide prevention, as well as prostate and testicular cancer: https://uk.movember.com/mospace/14321898

To follow the remaining days of their challenge on the dedicated Instagram page: @1440woodville

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Scott Spedding from Pexels