Leeds Uni charity run will honour student’s life whilst supporting mental health advocacy

The University of Leeds Athletics Society is running 22km in 22 hours on Tuesday 26^th November for former student, Grace Nevens.

Grace Nevens, 22, took her own life on Monday 4^th November 2024.

She had been a member of the Leeds Athletics Society and volunteered for the charity Mind in her free time.

All donations raised for the 22km run will be donated to Mind, a mental-health-based charity operating across England and Wales.

Caitlin Minns, also a member of the Leeds Athletics Society and one of Grace’s close friends, explained to the Leeds Tab that Grace’s personal ties as a former volunteer, alongside Mind’s suicide awareness and prevention campaigning, are the reasons it was selected for the club’s fundraising.

via Caitlin Minns

Since the Leeds Athletics Society had been such a big part of Grace’s life, the best way her friends could think to honour her was through running.

Caitlin explained: “Since Grace had been with us for 22 years, I thought we could run 22km in 22 hours for those 22 years she was alive.”

She became close friends with Grace on the Leeds athletics tour to Portugal earlier this year, when her and Grace flew out together. Speaking about their friendshi[, Caitlin laughed as she remembered a story from this trip fondly.

Caitlin said: “One of the best memories was on the way back [from Portugal].

“We were going to be late for our flight because we were in the bar doing karaoke at 2am and our flight was at 5am or 6am. We were so drunk in the transfer on the way back to the airport.

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“And that’s just the kind of person she was: So funny, always up for a laugh.But she was also the kind of girl that nothing was ever too much for, if it meant she was helping someone else. She was so giving and if she could help anyone in any way she would.

“I think everyone in athletics would agree that she was one of the kindest, most genuine people we’ve ever met.”

Grace Nevens in Portugal with friends via Caitlin Minns

The initial target for the run was £200 but £15,000 has been raised so far.

After Caitlin got in touch with the Leeds Athletics Society to pitch her idea and set up the Just Giving page, she remembers waking up the next day with the £200 target having already been massively surpassed.

She added: “The support was crazy. I remember sitting in my bed thinking of the idea one minute, and having raised £7,000 within the next two days.”

The Just Giving page has received £15,000 in donations for Mind so far.

In terms of how the run will be structured, participants can choose from a range of options to allow for flexibility.

Caitlin, who is currently on an exchange year in Australia, will be running a kilometre every hour for 22 hours.

Other runners have chosen to do the 22k in one stint, whilst some participants have arranged themselves into teams and will run a set amount of kilometres each, adding up to 22km cumulatively.

Caitlin told The Leeds Tab: “We made it flexible because obviously people have got uni, so it’s just however they best want to honour Grace’s life.

But definitely the last kilometre (which I think is 5pm or 6pm UK time) they will try and get everyone to do together.

“Me and my friend are in Australia, so we’ll be Facetiming in for that one.”

Caitlin remembers that initially, Grace wasn’t the best runner on the team. She improved dramatically though, demonstrating incredible athletic ability within a short period of time.

“You’d never have known she wasn’t a former runner,” Caitlin added.

Caitlin explains that part of the reason Grace kept coming back to athletics, despite having been quite new to running, was because of the strong support network and amazing friendships she found there.

Caitlin told The Leeds Tab: “I’m just so glad the society was able to give her that happiness, because Grace definitely contributed to all of our happiness.”

The Just Giving page for the run can be found here.

Featured image via Just Giving