East Sussex man to run the length of Britain for British Heart Foundation and epilepsy charity SUDEP Action

Brett Saunders, 30, from Heathfield, will set off from the northernmost tip of Scotland on September 14, running some 52-miles a day for 16 days to cover the 805-mile route.

Brett is running for two charities, the epilepsy charity SUDEP Action and the British Heart Foundation.

SUDEP Action is a community of families and clinical champions and the only UK charity that works alongside those whose loved ones have died suddenly from an epilepsy related death. SUDEP stands for Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy.

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Brett is running in memory of two people who were close to him – his friend Tom Sibree, who died from SUDEP in 2015, aged just, 24, and his uncle John Abbott, who died of a heart attack last December.

Brett said: “Tom was one of the nicest people I've ever met and I was very lucky to hang out with him.

“I recall vividly he said to me 'if you ever get stuck or need a place to stay you know you've always got mine' which stayed with me. I only learnt about SUDEP after Tom's death and SUDEP Action is a small charity doing great things. Seeing the Sibree family dealing with something no family should have to deal with was heart-breaking, but also then seeing what SUDEP Action means to them all and what difference can be made by raising money is a real driver.”

Brett only took up running during lockdown and ran his first race in 2020, albeit over 100km.

He said: “I haven't done anything on this scale before. Apart from the 100km, I’ve run a couple of marathons but I’m not an experienced runner. However, I thought how cool it would be to run the length of Britain, as well as being an amazing thing to achieve. After I ran 100km I decided to test myself and up the challenge to get people interested and raise the money I want to raise. The toughest part is going to be doing 52 miles day-after-day for 16 days.

“I’m enjoying the process, if that’s possible, and I’m really excited by the challenge ahead.”