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Heathfield man sets off in September on running challenge

21st July

Sussex man Brett Saunders is running the length of Britain from John O’Groats to Land’s End, despite considering himself an ‘inexperienced runner’.

Brett, 30, from Heathfield, East Sussex, will set off from the northernmost tip of Scotland in September.

Brett is running for two charities, the epilepsy charity SUDEP Action and the British Heart Foundation. He is hoping to raise around £16,000.

Brett said: “I’ll be setting off on the biggest running challenge I’ve ever undertaken – John O’Groats in Scotland to Lands End in Cornwall. The total distance of the challenge is 840 miles and I will be running around 50 miles per day across 16 days (daily running duration 12 – 15 hours). In the past 21 years, over 21,000 people with epilepsy have died suddenly and died too young. SUDEP Action’s Prevent21 campaign shines a light on this shocking disaster. With a significant change of attitude, culture, and action towards epilepsy – many lives CAN be saved. Knowledge saves lives.”

SUDEP Action is a community of families and clinical champions and the only UK charity that works alongside those whose loved ones have died suddenly from an epilepsy related death. SUDEP stands for Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy.Brett is running in memory of two people who were close to him – his friend Tom Sibree, who died from SUDEP in 2015, aged just, 24, and his uncle John Abbott, who died of a heart attack last December.

Brett is a landscape gardener. His family has worked in print, locally, for many years and he previously attended Eastbourne College.

To support Brett’s challenge go to justgiving. 

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