Running is more than the miles you clock up. It's a journey. We all have different starting points on this journey, and the home and route etched onto The Big Half medal represents the one that many young people go on with The Running Charity.
The charity transforms lives through running and supports those who experience homelessness and have complex needs. This year is the charity's 10th anniversary and with at least 122,000 homeless young people in the UK, its work is needed now more than ever. The charity operates in London, Manchester and Leeds, and you can read some of its success stories here.
Adele Bezzetto, Shanzay Ahmad, Barbara Nagawa, Christana Amadi, and Moath Ali are five young people the charity has supported. They are also the design team of this year’s T-shirt and medal for The Big Half and the New Balance Big Relay. And they will receive their medal with you at the Finish Line, having just completed 13.1 miles. Christana, 25, says: “It’s such a surreal thing that we designed it for the masses and that athletes will wear it too.”
The medal represents their journey and the chosen family they have made through the charity. Shanzay, 18, says: “A lot of young people who come to The Running Charity are either homeless or at risk of homelessness, so the house represents that. It also shows that we are a family. Most of us don't have families here, but we stay together and help each other.”
This journey is one Claude Umuhire (pictured below), 33, knows only too well. “The Running Charity changed my life, so it means a lot to me,” he says.
“My first contact with them was as a young homeless person who was going through a lot of challenging circumstances. I had lost my self-confidence and my self-worth, and I didn't see a way out of homelessness.”
That was about to change as the charity’s co-founder, Alex Eagle, challenged him to run the London Marathon as part of its pilot programme. Claude crossed the Finish Line in 2015 and now works for The Running Charity as its London Programmes Manager.
“The Running Charity gave me the confidence I needed. Being a runner helped me achieve things I never thought I would be able to,” Claude says. “The kind of achievements no one can ever take away from you. The confidence I gained and the belief that you're capable of anything, provided you put the work in and trust yourself, is what I'm trying to provide to young people.”
Claude received a Spirit of the London Marathon Award in 2018. But he has a soft spot for The Big Half as he has taken part every year since it was first held in 2018. Having been on this journey, he says he sees himself in the young people, like this year’s design team, that he works with.
“I see a bit of myself in every single young person that comes through the door, whether it's shyness or the sense that you're carrying the whole weight of the world on your shoulders,” Claude explains.
The Running Charity is more than just a running club. Medal designer Adele, 24, says: “It's a safe space and support. It also makes you challenge yourself more. I would have never thought of doing a half marathon before."
While the medal represents home and chosen family, the T-shirt is all about togetherness. This year, it’s an intergalactic track design complete with runners and London landmarks. Barabara says the design team was keen to capture togetherness. “We are all one and we run as one!”
Christana designed the runners to represent the running communities that come together for The Big Half. Moath, 18, designed London landmarks such as Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf to show the history of London on the route. This won’t be the first time he has passed those landmarks, either, as Moath explains: “I’m so excited for The Big Half! I got a feeling when I crossed the London Marathon Finish Line and I want to feel that again.”
If you've been to The Big Half before, you will have spotted our We Run As One campaign. Our mission is to empower runners of all backgrounds and celebrate the diverse running communities that cross the Finish Line.
We've also had one of those community groups step forward to design the finisher T-shirt and medal for the last two editions. It started with Zak from Vertex33 in 2022, and the ASRA collective followed in 2023. You'll also notice the finisher T-shirt has long sleeves, which ASRA introduced last year.
Sahra-Isha Muhammad-Jones, founder of ASRA, said: "As our club is by Muslim women for Muslim women, modesty is at the forefront of this, and we wanted our community who take part in The Big Half to wear the finisher T-shirts on the day without needing to bring extra layers."
You can find out more about The Running Charity here. There are many ways to get involved through running or donating.