It was the end of 2022 and Dawn and Mike Goodfellow were hosting a dinner party. It was during this party that Dawn realised 2023 was not only destined to be the year she turns 60, but it was going to be the year of great physical prowess. The year that she would cover more miles than she’d ever covered before, the year to conquer mountains.

As Dawn announced to the table her intention to run the Great North Run AND complete the Yorkshire Three Peaks, Mike felt himself come over a bit funny.

And no, he hadn’t had one too many - in fact, Mike was completely sober. Mike was so overcome with inspiration that he found himself shouting out: “I’ll join you!”.

And so it was decided. The Goodfellows would take on these two epic challenges together and, along the way, they’d hope to raise a great deal of money for Racing Welfare.

The Challenges

Dawn and Mike will be taking on Racing Welfare’s Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge on Saturday 8^th July. This will see them cover 25 miles of gruelling terrain and over 1,500 metres of ascent as they take on the famous three peaks of Ingleborough, Pen-y-ghent and Whernside. The aim is to complete this challenge within 12 hours.

Merely two months later, the duo will toss aside their hiking boots and lace up their trainers in readiness for the Great North Run. The couple will race the iconic 13.1mile route around Newcastle on Sunday 10th September, bidding to be crowned the ‘fastest Goodfellow of all time’.

Why are they doing this?

As chief executive of Racing Welfare for more than eight years, Dawn knows more than anyone how vital the charity’s services are to racing’s people. Racing Welfare continues to see demand for its services increase year-on-year and, without the hundreds of good, kind people who donate and fundraise for the charity its services would cease to exist. Services such as help recovering from injury or illness, mental health support, financial assistance, careers advice… there is so much more and examples of the charity’s good work can all be found at racingwelfare.co.uk.

Follow Racing Welfare’s social media accounts for updates on Dawn and Mike’s training progress as they take on various park runs and walks in the coming months. And please, donate what you can to support them as they take on such a massive physical and mental challenge for a cause so close to both of their hearts.

And finally, ready yourselves as Mike promises: “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”