Chris’ Challenge for Arlo’s Adventure

Runner Chris Hancox is set to take on a 100 mile race early next month in aid of a fantastic Manx charity.

Chris is raising money for Arlo’s Adventure, which was created in memory of Arlo Owen, who sadly died when he was just days old, in 2016.

While many of us would like to visit Italy, Switzerland and France for a weekend break, runner Chris is aiming to race through all three countries in just 46 hours.

He said that the challenge, which totals 100 miles, is 40 miles further than anything he has competed in before  but one that he is relishing.

Chris explained: ‘There’s a it’s a bit of a pyramid scheme of races and this is the one that builds up to so I did one of the races in Wales, it’s 100 kilometres, gave me the bare minimum qualifications to enter this one. I entered a ballot and got place and I’ve not not sure if that’s lucky or lucky.’

While the race will be an incredible challenge, the outcome that matters most is the money raised for Arlo’s Adventure.

‘I think there’s a real need for on the island, there’s obviously always going to be unfortunately families that have ill children,’ said Chris.

He added: ‘I think anything that can be done to support them is a really worthwhile cause. Arlo’s Adventure is a relatively new charity, and it’s been successful, but it needs funding to keep going and keep providing support.’

Arlo

Arlo’s Adventure was created by Sarah Owen after the death of her son Arlo. It works to support islanders who require hospital treatment in the UK.

With no government funding available, Arlo’s Adventure helps by meeting the cost of transport and accommodation for family members to visit, while also helping to pay for activities for families to do while in the UK.

However, while this work is vital, the charity also supports families in their darkest days, in particular the siblings  of a child or pregnancy lost.

Sarah said: ‘Arlo lived for six weeks before he passed away, so obviously in that time, I was away from all my family and things like that and luckily enough they could come over and visit because it’s quite a lonely time, also the family got to meet Arlo because they could come in from visit whereas we were lucky that they could afford to.

‘Unfortunately in the times that we’re in now, that’s becoming a luxury, really. Patient transfers will fund for a member of the family to go over with that child, but the wider family don’t get to go and sometimes that can be a time critical thing. We recently funded for a family to go over for someone that was really ill.

‘That was precious time that they got to be away with them and that’s part of what we do.

‘We also support bereaved families on the Isle of Man reefer focuses on miscarriage, and stillbirth and neonatal death and that for those families over here, we do things like a petal release and Baby Loss Awareness Week to remember those babies, because sometimes when we ask people, What do you want, they just say for someone to remember.’

‘People like Chris doing these events for us means that we can we can keep going and that we can support as many families as we possibly can.’

Arlo’s Adventure will also help families with costs by providing items such as food vouchers, removing the additional stress of trying to afford to keep a family home on the island while paying for living in the UK during treatment.

Chris has set himself a target of £2,500. He has already raised over £1,600, in part through agreeing to be waxed at work, with the more money he raised meaning more waxing.

You can can out more about Arlo’s Adventure on its Facebook page or by going to its website. There you can also find links to donate to Chris’ efforts, or you can simply follow the link here.

The ultramarathon gets underway on September 1 and we’ll be sharing info on how to track Chris’ progress closer to the time.