A student from Harrogate is aiming to run 100km – 62 miles – around Oatlands Stray to raise money for charity. 

Morgan Glazier, 21, will run for 12 hours through the night of Friday, June 30 to Saturday, July 1 – and will then cap it off by completing the 5km Harrogate Parkrun.  

Morgan, who left Rossett School in 2020, said: 

“I’ve been out practising a lot over the last couple of months, building up my mileage and getting used to the pace I’ll be keeping on the night. My route around Oatlands Stray is about a mile long, and I’m hoping to manage as many as 62 laps, but if it gets really tough, I may have to make do with 52, but that’s still a double marathon.” 

The run is part of Morgan’s longer-term fundraising plan. He has just finished the final year of his degree in economics at the University of Bristol and plans to mark the achievement by running the Budapest Marathon in October in aid of the Meningitis Research Foundation.  

But to secure his place, he must raise 80% of his £1,000 fundraising target by the end of July, and he is hoping his epic Stray all-nighter will be a way of hitting his target fast. He will be supported through the night by friends and family, some of whom plan to keep him company for a few laps. 

This is not the first time Morgan has set himself an ambitious target to raise money for charity. In 2020, aged just 18, he ran 465 miles in 30 days, raising over £9,000 for mental health charity Mind.

Morgan said:  

“I’ve been running for years, but this 12-hour challenge is new territory for me – I’ve never run this far in one go before, but that’s part of the fun.” 

Meningitis is the inflammation of the membranes that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. It can kill, and survivors can be left with long-term effects, such hearing loss, brain injury and limb loss. 

Students are the second-biggest group at risk of contracting meningitis, after babies and toddlers. 

The Meningitis Research Foundation funds work to find new ways of preventing meningitis and septicaemia, and to mitigate their effects. 

To support Morgan and help him on his way to his £1,000 fundraising target for the Meningitis Research Foundation, go to his JustGiving page and make a donation. 

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It started with 134 participants on January 21, 2012 and now regularly attracts 300 to 400 people each week.

Harrogate Parkrun, which will take place for the 500th time on Saturday, has become a staple part of weekend life for many people.

It happens every Saturday on the Stray at 9am, except in extremely bad weather and during covid.

With its emphasis on fun and community, it has helped thousands of people get fit and have fun. Many non-runners attempting the couch to 5k challenge start by walking the route, then jogging parts of it and eventually running the entire distance.

The highest Harrogate Parkrun entry so far was 625 on March 2, 2019.

Parkruns have sprung up elsewhere in the Harrogate district at Fountains Abbey near Ripon and at Conyngham Hall in Knaresborough.

The last decade has also seen a flourishing of other informal local running groups, such as the Early Bird Running Crew, to help average people who might feel intimidated by joining a club enjoy the benefits of running.

Asked why it has become so popular, Mike Kaye, who regularly runs and volunteers as a marshal on the Stray, said:

“First of all it’s free. Secondly it has a big community feel. It’s also one of the best things for mental wellbeing.

“You don’t have to run Parkrun. You can just walk if you want to.”

There will be balloons and cake to mark this weekend’s milestone event.

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Harrogate district Parkruns look set to return by the end of October.

Parkrun sees runners of all abilities take part in a 5km run every Saturday morning. But the organisers paused the event at the beginning of March, just ahead of the national lockdown.

Now, after months of drawing up plans and waiting for social distancing rules to relax, Parkrun is ready to resume.

Parkrun holds three events in the Harrogate district: in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.

Crowding at the starting and finishing lines is one of the main concerns. The official Parkrun framework admits there is no way to maintain social distance at these points.

But Tom Williams, the global chief operating officer of Parkrun and Harrogate resident, told the Stray Ferret the benefits outweighed the coronavirus risks:

“We are a charity but it has been a huge challenge to support people’s health and wellbeing in a virtual way. I believe that by bringing back the Parkrun it will make a big difference.

“Where we have already brought the Parkrun back [in other countries] we have seen runners return in their numbers so we expect the same in the UK.”

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The government has banned social gatherings of more than six people from Monday, but with some exceptions.

Mr Williams said he did not think the new rules would affect Parkrun because it is an outdoor sports event with minimal contact but he said it would monitor the situation.

In one of Parkrun’s recent surveys, almost 80% of respondents said they would return to Parkrun in four weeks’ time if the events were to come back in a safe way.