The College is a registered charity and welcomes support from the community to assist with new equipment, improvements on campus and extra-curricular activities for the students who live on campus most of the year. The team will complete an impressive 181 miles between them on the day, the equivalent of running from London to Brighton and back again! The course starts in Preston Park at 9.45am, snakes its way through the vibrant city centre, then drops down to the glorious seafront, to finish at Hove Lawns, usually with great support from the general public. The Couriers/RNC team comprises: Ben Brown, Ryan Lawrence, Kieran Whittall, Kieran Merrick who ran the virtual London Marathon for RNC last year, and Freya Collins. Pictured L-R: Ben Brown, Ryan Lawrence, Kieran Merrick, Kieran Whittall Pictured: Freya Collins Ben started running just before the first Covid lockdown in 2020, then moved to Hereford in January 2021 and joined the Hereford Couriers. ‘I entered every 10k I could find because I love a challenge,’ he says. ‘I took part in Movember last year raising money through running so when the opportunity arose to take on my biggest running challenge yet for another great - and local - cause, I grabbed it with both hands.’ Kieran Whittall is a relatively new recruit to the club, having joined at the start of this year. ‘I completed the Couch 2 Couriers programme where I discovered running could actually be quite enjoyable. I’d always fancied the idea of completing a marathon so when this opportunity presented itself, I couldn’t turn it down and the chance to support a local charity was a must!’ The team has a second Kieran (Merrick) who is no stranger to long distance running events, having completed several marathons and even some longer Iron Man challenge events. He successfully ran the virtual London Marathon for RNC back in April 2023, by doing several laps of a Couriers training route around Hereford. Freya Collins is a dental hygienist from Hereford who discovered her running legs back in 2019. ‘I lost my son Oliver James in May 2018 and running has really helped me - it gives me focus and enhances good mental health. I am now on my 10th marathon and always look for a worthwhile charity to honour my son’s name.’ Ryan Lawrence says: ‘I have been running for around 5 years, starting for the social aspect. But since joining the running club I have had the opportunity to push myself in all distances on and off-road and meet some amazing people and life-long friends. When the opportunity come up to run Brighton, it was a no brainier… a chance to do something I love and to raise money for an amazing charity at the same time!’ The team are training hard, out and about on Club runs around Hereford on weekday evenings as well as following their own training plans so you might see them in their distinctive orange running vests! To donate to any of their individual fundraising pages, please search for them on the official Brighton fundraising pages here.