This is far from the first challenge of this type that Alice has set herself. When asked about why she keeps pushing herself in this way, Alice replied, “Running for me is about trying to find out where my limit is. I’m not motivated by speed or pushing for PBs, but I’m motivated by pushing for the longer distances.”
She added, “I am also motivated by trying to inspire others that you don’t have to be anything special or to be what you’d imagine the stereotype of an athlete to be to achieve something like this. Women in particular are often hesitant to really push themselves to take on big challenges until they have a huge bank of evidence that they will achieve what they set out to do.”
Not only was empowering women one of Alice’s main motivations for completing the marathon, but the money raised was in service of Women’s Street Watch. Established in 2021 after the deaths of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, the charity now has branches all over the UK, and Alice raised over £5,000 for the organisation.
... the main driver was that I wanted to be the first woman to acheieve it.
“When I first decided to run the Metro, the main driver was that I wanted to be the first woman to achieve it,” said Alice. “I’d supported a man called Paul (the third man to run the Metro) to do the same challenge in February and that made me think about whether I could do it too. When I saw that if I did I’d be the first woman that made the decision.
However, Alice’s journey to completing the marathon was not done alone, for a very important reason. She said “Paul had initially decided to run it solo (although subsequently chose support), but I knew that as a woman that wasn’t a choice I had because it simply wouldn’t be safe to run on my own along much of the route at night. This was what motivated me to fundraise for Women’s Street Watch because they do such a fantastic job keeping the women of Newcastle safe at night.”
Alice praised the work that the charity does in Newcastle, which includes helping women on nights out by ordering a taxi home, giving them spare phone chargers, shoes and blankets if needed, and generally giving them a safe space to be in the overwhelming hustle and bustle of city nightlife.
I wanted to raise awareness of the great work they do...
She said, “I wanted to raise awareness of the great work they do in the hope that this might also lead to some longer lasting support for them. What they do isn’t expensive [...] but to the women they help to get home safely, it can be quite literally priceless.”
Given this is such an inspiring story, it feels only appropriate to end on some words of encouragement from Alice herself:
“Your challenge doesn’t have to be to run 65 miles, it can be whatever you want it to be, but don’t be afraid to dream big and take on a challenge so big it scares you. I’m nothing special, if I can do it so can you and I’d love to support anyone else to take on this and smash my time!”