Schoolgirl from Burgess Hill Girls helps refugees with 24 hour run

Friends Jessica, a student at Burgess Hill Girls and Emily, a student at Uplands Community College, met through their love of triathalons and both compete for Sussex Tristars.

Jessica and Emily should have been taking their GCSE exams, but due to the cancellation decided to take on another challenge.

Organised by Phoenix Running, ‘P24 – The Longest Day’ was a virtual running challenge held on the Summer Solstice, Saturday, June 20.

It started at 8am and participants had to run a mile on the hour for the next 24 hours, finishing at 7am on Sunday, June 21.

Jessica said this was the toughest challenge she had ever completed, both physically and mentally.

She said: “You would think that running on the hour would mean a fairly long break so it’s easier, it’s not.

“Between every mile your muscles fatigue and cramp. You have to motivate yourself to get back off the sofa.

“Eating was also challenging as there was not enough time to let our food go down so stitches were common and very painful.

“The night miles were the hardest as it was dark, our legs were tired and we had to try and not fall asleep, but when the sun began to rise at 4am the end was in sight.”

Jessica and Emily decided to use the challenge to raise funds for Choose Love/Help Refugees, a charity that supports refugees all around the world, providing emergency aid and long-term solutions where they are most needed.

To donate to their JustGiving page, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/emilyandjess.