James Edwards took on the phenomenal challenge of running 1000 miles in 1 year, in memory of his sister Louise. He also kindly raised funds for Winston’s Wish after his niece and nephew were supported by the charity and although he started with a goal of £1000, he has now raised £3,477. James successfully completed the amazing feat in April this year, so we asked him to share his experience of the year long challenge.

Could you share with us a little about why you wanted to fundraise for Winston’s Wish?

On the 1st January 2022 my life changed forever when we lost my beautiful sister Lou through suicide. Lou was my older sister and even though we were close in age she was someone who I always looked up to. Growing up we were always close and she was always there for me throughout my life, we shared so many incredible memories which will always live in my heart. Lou followed in my dads footsteps and became a police officer after leaving school, one of the initial tests to be accepted into the force is a fitness test and I will never forget training her on the beep test and we spent evenings running backwards and forwards on my mum and dad’s driveway to ensure she would pass, and she did, just like I knew she would. Even though she was small in stature she was the strongest person I knew and was amazing at her job, she was so well respected and on her way to becoming a sergeant.

Lou had two great children, Lyla who is now 7 and Spencer who is 9, as well as being an auntie to my daughter Maisie, she doted on them all and made them the centre of her world, everything was planned around them, ensuring that they were having a good time. Lou was the one to organise family outings and holidays and we always had the best times with incredible memories. Lyla and Spencer’s lives were turned upside down when they lost their mum and it was unbelievably hard to see them so sad without any way of making it better. We were at a loss on how to explain things to them when they were asking when they could see mummy again. It was heart breaking and is a memory that I will always carry. With the support of Winston’s Wish they were able to each receive age appropriate support and understand what had happened with the help of books etc, and we learnt techniques on how to support them now and in the future. We know Lyla and Spencer will always be impacted by the loss of their mummy, but we know there is an amazing charity there to help them for the rest of their lives and we will always be grateful.

Tell us about your mammoth 1000-mile challenge. How long did it take and how have you stayed motivated?

After Louise’s passing I needed to focus on something other than my grief, I’ve always been keen at keeping fit but decided to challenge myself with something I’d never achieved before and we decided I’d run 1000 miles in 1 year in the hopes of raising £1000, my aim was to start on Lou’s birthdays (14th April) and end on her birthday the year after. I thought running 83 miles a month seemed achievable, but fitting this in whilst also having a full-time job and everything else life throws at you turned into more of a challenge than I expected. Getting up at 4am on a morning and running in the freezing cold wasn’t something I exactly looked forward to, but I always remembered why and who I was doing it for. Before Lou passed she wanted to get back into running and we had discussed her coming running with me again, so every time I set off I would always blow a kiss up to the sky knowing I was doing it for her and she was with me.

What’s been the most enjoyable and most challenging part of the journey? Was it as you expected it would be?

The most enjoyable experience of the whole challenge was completing the run with my niece, nephew and daughter and running through the finish line holding their hands with so much support from my friends and family. Hearing everyone cheer was the best feeling, I couldn’t have got through the hard times without them, so to have everyone there was overwhelming. I also couldn’t believe people’s generosity, when I first set up the just giving page I was worried if I would even get close to the £1000, but every time I’d get a notification and see someone’s donation it would give me another boost to keep going.

The most challenging thing about running was keeping the motivation, after I hit the first 250 miles I knew I had to keep going but knowing I was still so far off and the initial motivation was starting to dwindle, it helped getting kicked out of bed every morning but trying to fit in the runs and remain on target was hard. During the 12 months I had a couple of months where I was unwell and struggled to run, trying to claw back the miles I missed seemed impossible at times, but I always knew what I was doing it for and that boosted me on.

How did you find the fundraising aspect of the challenge and do you have any tips for other people looking to raise money for a cause?

The Facebook page really helped, I was able to communicate with large groups of people at one time and keep everyone updated on my progress, the group got shared and I received support from people id never met before. The other thing that made it easier was that I was doing something I enjoyed and even though it was hard, fitness not only helped my mental health but physical also, so I would always suggest doing something that you’re passionate about that helps you as much as the charity. Just Giving is the easiest platform to set up and use, I can see the total and the donations with comments of support which made the life of fundraising simple and easy. The support I received from Winston’s wish was amazing with the check in emails from Kerry, and the Winston’s Wish branded material was so generous and helped make my charity event look decorative and memorable.

Huge thanks to James for sharing his story and congratulations on completing the 1000 miles and for going above and beyond to support Winston’s Wish. If you would like to donate to James’s JustGiving page you can do this here and if you’ve been inspired to take on a fundraising challenge of your own, please let us know here.