As we were blessed with fantastic weather over November, the youngsters of our county took up the challenge of running a mile a day; in fact over 1,000 of them!

The November Challenge was the brainchild of Matthew Evans in a bid to make activity fun and to create a habit of simply getting outside as a family.

The inaugural event was last year, when Matthew and his team targeted 50 children, but the end result was over 700 running, with over 500 parents also taking part in their first running event in 2016 as a result of accompanying their children! This year, over 1,000 children were active in the county.

As part of the programme, Matthew visited schools and talked to the children in arranged assemblies.

“The response is always incredible and no two are ever the same; that’s the beauty of children,” he said. “They do interact so well and really want to tell you every story about their running to date. Pennar School even made up a November Challenge Song to sing as they ran in the school grounds!”

As part of the November Challenge, there is also a Beast Challenge where runners add one mile a day. So day one they run one mile, day two, two miles etc. The final week is incredibly tough, with 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 miles and then the final 30 miles on the last day!

Sixty-four endurance athletes entered the challenge, with only three finishing - Johnny Jackson, Jason James and Matthew Evans.

Matthew said: “It is without doubt one of the toughest challenges I have done; as you hit the last week, it is just about getting to the number, recovering, eating, and preparing for the next day!”

As well as all the running, The November Challenge raises funds for Thyroid Cancer and Challenge Aid. As part of this year’s efforts, the team raised enough to build their very own school in Kabira, Nairobi, equip the school with Kenyan syllabus text books and staff the school for four years. An incredible effort by all concerned.

The November Challenge will again grow next year. Already talks are in place that would involve a minimum of 2,000 children in the programme.