A man running 39 marathons is raising funds to support grieving parents who experienced miscarriages.
Shrewsbury father Olly Brown is just days away from completing an extraordinary endurance challenge that has already raised more than £75,000 for baby loss charity Tommy’s.
The 34-year-old set out to run 39 marathons across 39 consecutive weeks, tackling one in each of England’s historic counties — a feat he dubbed “Marathons for Miracles”.
His journey began in Leicestershire on December 28 and will come to a long-awaited finale on September 19 along the north Norfolk coast.
Mr Brown initially aimed to raise £39,000 – but donations have nearly doubled that target.
He came up with the challenge after his wife, Amy, had a miscarriage at 13 weeks in 2022, an event that drove him to support families navigating similar grief.
“It’s a club that no one wants to be part of but you only know that it exists once you are part of it,” Mr Brown said.
“Miscarriage and baby loss is still quite taboo in our society and not very widely spoken about,” he added.
Olly Brown completed the London marathon
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PA
The idea for the challenge took shape after Mr Brown discovered that several friends had endured similar heartbreak.
He began making plans once he felt emotionally prepared, following the arrival of the couple’s daughter.
His ambition was twofold: to generate funds for Tommy’s and to create connections among the families who had lived through the loss.
Mr Brown designed the challenge so that each marathon would be completed alongside a different running partner, every one of whom had their own experience of loss to share.
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Olly Brown is running to raise money for Tommy’s
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Some were already known to him, while others came forward after he launched a social media campaign looking for participants.
“Alongside the marathons we’ve been recording a podcast series,” he explained.
Each week featured a conversation lasting between 45 minutes and an hour with his upcoming running companion — or their partner — exploring their personal stories and motivations for supporting Tommy’s.
Mr Brown described the project as an effort to “create a sense of community, a way of bringing people together who have had these experiences”.
“It’s been a big commitment for us as a family,” the father added. Their second child, a son, arrived in January — just five weeks into the marathon schedule.
“On week five of the challenge we welcomed a newborn and all the joy that comes with that, and challenges and lack of sleep,” he said.
The couple now have a three-year-old daughter and a seven-month-old son, meaning Mr Brown has balanced the gruelling weekly distances with the demands of young parenthood.
Kath Abrahams, chief executive of Tommy’s, was hugely thankful for Mr Brown’s bid to raise awareness for the charity.
“We are so grateful to Olly and all the runners joining him around the UK for taking on this extraordinary feat for Tommy’s,” she said.