Leos player Charlie Clark who joined through our student program is taking on the grueling challenge of completing 206 miles in a month, the distance from Crag Lane to his hometown club Ironsides to raise funds for mental health foundation Looseheadz in memory of his former Ironsides teammate who committed suicide in May.

As well as running virtually with Charlie during lockdown there will be weekly challenges around the number 206 to get involved in, and keep the competitive juices flowing in the ongoing absence of any rugby.

Please follow @the_great_rugby_run on instagram and spread the word as we want as many people to get involved as possible over the duration of the challenge.

Link for donations - https://www.gofundme.com/f/sundtv-the-big-run?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-

Charlie's Story;

Typically this is not the time of year I would be announcing something like this. However, with no rugby for the foreseeable it seems only fair to put my body through a great deal of pain and ask for some money in return.

From the 11th November till the 12th December I will be attempting to run 206 miles.

Why am I doing this?

Back in May a loved member of my hometown rugby club @ironsidesrugby tragically completed suicide. He was such a valued club member and was so devastating to see this happen.

A tragedy like this just emphasised even further how lockdown can really take its toll on people’s mental health.

I know if I have had a hard week that chucking on my boots, packing up my ones, playing a game and having a few beers afterwards can really turn things around.

So from this I thought I would start a challenge which brings sport, exercise, mental health and 2 rugby clubs close to my heart all together.

The challenge will be in aid of the wonderful charity that is @looseheadz who aim to create a platform and community to help turn the tide on mental health issues particularly when it comes to people talking. All the money raised in the challenge will therefore help Looseheadz’s mission and #tacklethestigma.

Why 206 miles?

Well this is the distance from the clubhouse of my hometown rugby club @ironsidesrugby in south London to my university club @leosrugby in north Leeds.

It is going to be a tough challenge but I am confident that I can get through it and there are also some runs which I would love people to participate in virtually should they wish.

The first run will be this time next week (11th November) and will be 11 miles on the 11th day of the 11th month to honour Elliot and Ironsides’ military connections.

Please message me if you would like to get involved. The run can be done from anywhere.

For those less keen on running, 1.1 miles is also great!

More events will be announced so please stay tuned.

If you would also like to donate see the link in the bio.

Stay safe and look out for one another. Always here if needed.

#tacklethestigma #rugby #mentalhealth #looseheadz #running #greatrugbyrun #206challenge