Roly's Run set to raise money for charity six years in a row

Sunday, October 6, 2024 is the day of the sixth Roly’s Run, an event held in memory of the late Rich Walklate.

The run will take participants through the Meon Valley, with a choice between 40, 20 or 15 mile circular routes which include some of the local climbs, including Beacon Hill and Old Winchester Hill. 

All proceeds from the run will go to a range of charities.

READ MORE: Roly's Run raises £5,000 for three Hampshire charities

Some of the runners (Image: Roly's Run)

In May 2018, Rich suddenly died. This extremely active and fit young man, aged 33, fell very ill over a weekend and in less than a week, he had passed away. There is every suggestion that his death was caused by sepsis.

His family was devastated. He had two elder sisters, one of whose partners was Rich’s best friend since childhood. He had four nieces and nephews – all at the time below the age of 5.

Unbeknownst to most of his friends and family, Rich had achieved so much in his short life. He had a very important job, which very few knew about. He had played both chess and badminton at junior county level. He had participated in triathlons, Ironman events and, in November 2017, became the first GB athlete to cross the line in the highest marathon in the world, the starting point being just below base camp on Everest. Three weeks before he died, Rich had run the Manchester Marathon in his best ever time – just 3 minutes over 3 hours.

Very few people knew, because Rich just did all this and kept it to himself. He would also go out of his way to help and encourage others. It staggered the family that the week after his death, well over 700 people took part in the Cheltenham Park Run where he had been a co-director – the previous Cheltenham record was just in excess of 500. Because he lived on his own in Cheltenham and did not say much, the family had assumed that he had few friends. How wrong they were.

His best friend, Carlos, was determined that Rich would be remembered and determined to honour him by instigating Roly’s Run. “Roly” was Rich’s nickname from his badminton days. With about 12 weeks to go before the first running of the event, there were about 12 entrants. This was finally increased to over 110. Last year’s figure rose to over 250. There are also innumerable volunteers marshalling the course or making home-made cakes for the runners to enjoy both during and after the run. Roly’s Run is now featured on the Ordnance Survey Map of the area and people are entering from all over the country.

SEE ALSO: Roly's Run in the Meon Valley in memory of Rich Walklate

A lot of money is raised for charity through the event, including the Papworth Hospital Charity, Papworth being where Rich was treated in 2014 – he had been born with a bicuspid heart valve and two wonderful surgeons at Papworth operated on Rich in two separate procedures just three days apart to insert the third valve. Rich then made a complete recovery and returned to full fitness. When the autopsy into his death was carried out, there was no question that his new valve was intact and had not failed.

Rather, it was agreed by leading consultants, that the most likely cause of his sudden death was sepsis. Because of this, virtually all monet raised in Rich’s name is split between three charities – The Papworth Hospital Charity, the UK Sepsis Trust and Help for Heroes. It was discovered only after his death that Rich made regular donations to Help for Heroes and the family were determined to continue this support.  Since 2018, nearly £40,000 has been raised in Rich’s name, the bulk of which has gone to these three charities.

Roly’s Run has grown beyond belief, but this year an unexpected issue has jeopardised its success.

The organisers released the following message: "The team was not able to book the main Hall for the mid-November date and have had to bring the event forward to early October. We know that many of our regular participants had already entered other events, which they cannot move. So please, if you are not pre-occupied on Sunday, October 6, and fancy a challenge running or walking 15, 20 or even 40 miles around the glorious Hampshire countryside, please consider joining us for the sixth edition of Roly’s Run, where you can expect to be well fed and watered at various staging posts."

For more detailed information please visit this website www.rolys.run/index.php.