MENTAL MILES is the story of four friends, taking on a non-stop running relay from Land’s End to John O’Groats, whilst raising awareness and funds for mental health charity, Sport in Mind. 

Starting on the 26th March 2022, the four-man team of Liam Bendell, Gus Barton, Pete Crocombe and Jack Mayhew are aiming to complete the 930-mile (1,500km) challenge in under 7 days by running consecutive 90-minute solo shifts, all day and all night. Along the way, they will climb over 44,000 feet - the equivalent of one and half times the height of Everest.

Supported by two campervans throughout, the team will eat and sleep on the roads, constantly moving until they reach the most northerly point of Great Britain. Through teamwork, resilience, preparation and determination – MENTAL MILES aims to inspire and break down the seemingly impossible, into something achievable. 

The team’s primary goal is to continue raising awareness around mental health and highlighting why exercise is so important in their lives. 

With mental illness affecting so many during recent times, the cause is particularly close to team member Pete’s heart, having lost his dad, Paul, to suicide in February 2020. 

Paul was an avid sportsman, teacher and encourager in life – and the MENTAL MILES challenge is the biggest yet in the Mr Crocombe Legacy. 

Through the power of physical activity and opening up conversations, Sport in Mind’s aim is to widen education, normalise the topic and equip people with the tools they need to understand their mental health. 

Paul Crocombe was one of 5,224 people who took their own lives in the UK in 2020. Countless others struggled with mental health issues.

From the outside, he had a wonderful life – 62 years old, retired with loving family and friends, and financially stable. However, he came from an era and a sporting background where bottling up emotions was the norm. With this stigma and a lack of available, appropriate professional support to draw on to help him battle his illness, he felt he had only one option to escape the pain he was in. 

Knowing that we could help just one adult or child and give them the support to change their life, gives us all the motivation we need to complete this challenge.

• £75 provides the opportunity for 10 people struggling with mental health challenges to access a Sport in Mind activity
• £150 educates 30 children and young people about the benefits of being active for their mental health
• £200 enables a school to deliver sport and mental health lesson plans to pupils/students

Thank you for your support.