My brother, Russ, died on the 25th January 2021 of a heart attack at the age of 43, and I have been thinking for some time what I can do in honour of him.

On January 24th I will be running 43 miles and completing a days work, to raise awareness and encourage others to look after themselves and ensure they find time in their busy schedules.

I am a PE teacher at the Howard School in Rainham, Kent, so doing it on a school day means I have the opportunity to encourage the students to get involved and hopefully their families too. I will leave at roughly 3am, allowing about 5 hours to run to work, do a few miles with the boys at school during the day, then run home at the end of the day...

Instead of donating as normal, I am asking people to get active in January (and hopefully beyond). The initial challenge is for everyone is to run/walk/swim or row 43 miles across January and/ or February and beyond. This is approximately 1.4 miles or 2.2km, which would take about 20-25 mins to walk (still less than government recommendations of 30 min/day).

In all honesty Its just about doing more than usual and whatever you can to be as healthy as possible.

I actually believe it's more about raising awareness and improving our lifestyles, rather than just raising money. I am simply asking that once you have completed your miles in January that you simply donate £1, this is so I know how many people have looked after themselves. If you want to donate more then please do directly to BHF. Prevention is better than cure and so looking after yourself could be worth way more in the long run.

Exercise is key to improving our health; physical, mental and social, which is why I feel so strongly about encouraging everyone to be more active on a regular basis rather than simply donating

Of course January is not an easy month to get outside but that's all part of it, you can go for a walk in the evening, get on a treadmill at the gym, walk to work. It must just be designated miles, not just your step count walking around the office at work. It's about finding time for you!

Please let me know about what you achieve.

Thanks for reading