Student to run 100km around the Stray at night for charity

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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