Man's marathon challenge for baby loss charity

A man is preparing to run a fundraising marathon in each of England's 39 historic counties.

Olly Brown, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, plans to run one marathon a weekend for 39 weeks, starting on 28 December, and record interviews along the way to feature in a podcast.

Mr Brown said he wanted to do something to raise money and awareness for the charity Tommy's after he and his wife experienced a miscarriage in 2022.

He said losing a baby was an experience he and his wife were "totally unprepared for" and it made them more aware of miscarriages.

"Once people know you've been through it, they start talking about their own losses," he said.

"You realise it's happened to so many people but it's just not spoken about."

Mr Brown is calling his fundraising challenge Marathons for Miracles and said he would be joined each week by someone from the county he was visiting who had experienced pregnancy or baby loss.

The couple have since had a daughter, but Mr Brown said he decided to take on his fundraising challenge after close friends also lost a baby.

He said the 39-week challenge was his "best attempt at replicating the nine-month pregnancy journey, whilst acknowledging that not all pregnancies make it to the full 40 weeks".

Mr Brown added: "I hope to shine a small light on an issue that affects 50% of UK adults in some way, but is so rarely discussed."

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