Enfield Dispatch editor James Cracknell is running the largest half-marathon in the world this weekend – while raising money for Shelter

Tyne Bridge (credit Peter Moore via Wikimedia Commons) and (inset) Dispatch editor James Cracknell

This time last year – knowing that I was as unfit as I’d ever been and would be turning 40 in 2025 – I decided to take on a challenge.

I’ve always been a runner, but motivation can sometimes be difficult. Let’s just say I’m not the kind of person to get up early for a morning jog before work.

I needed something to help get over that mental hurdle and force myself to run when the sofa seemed a far more enticing prospect.

So I signed up for the Great North Run!

The race, which takes place every September in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is now the largest half-marathon race in the world and is expected to have 60,000 participants this year.

My year of training has seen me make use of the refurbished gym at Southbury Leisure Centre last winter, and then take full advantage of the beautiful new path along the New River throughout this spring and summer. I always say hello to the ducks!

To secure my place for the Great North Run I signed up with homelessness charity Shelter. Regular readers of the Dispatch might remember a series of articles we published in 2023, when Enfield’s housing crisis spiralled out of control and hundreds of families ended up living for weeks and months in hotels. Meeting these families moved me deeply and, aside from telling their stories and reporting on the housing crisis, I wanted to do something else to help people who are struggling to find a permanent home.

Shelter campaigns for housing justice. It gives advice, information, and advocacy to people and campaigns, and lobbies government and local authorities for new laws and policies around homelessness.

My fundraising target is £400, which I have already surpassed, but it would fantastic if we could smash £500 between now and race day. Please consider donating if you are able to!

Donate to James’s Great North Run sponsorship page:
Visit justgiving.com/page/james-cracknell-3

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