In July 2026, I’ll be attempting to run 215 miles coast-to-coast across England along the Trans Pennine Trail, starting in Southport on the west coast and finishing in Hornsea on the east coast. Alongside raising awareness, I’ll also be fundraising as part of the Rise and Raise campaign to mark Alcohol Awareness Week in support of Alcohol Change UK.
Originally, the challenge was planned as seven consecutive days of 50km. But after months of training and a growing belief that I was capable of more, I decided to make it even harder and turn it into one continuous coast-to-coast ultramarathon.
While I’ll be the one covering the miles, this challenge is as much Liam’s story as it is mine.
Today, we’re both approaching 600 days sober, but a few years ago neither of us could have imagined being involved in something like this.
We were both overweight, unhealthy and stuck in cycles that were taking us further away from the people we wanted to be.
For Liam, the combination of depression, drinking and drug use was becoming a dangerous path to stay on. Looking back now, it was a recipe for disaster if things had continued in that direction.
For me, alcohol was putting a strain on the relationship that mattered most in my life. Every time I drank, I became a version of myself that I wasn’t proud of. Looking back honestly, if I’d continued down that path, I truly believe I would have ended up losing everything that mattered most to me.
One of the reasons we’re supporting Alcohol Change UK is because we want to challenge the idea that there are only two categories when it comes to alcohol: dependency or no problem at all.
Neither of us were alcohol dependent. We could go weeks without touching a drink. From the outside, many people would probably have looked at us and thought everything was fine.
The reality was very different.
For us, one drink was too many, but twenty wasn’t enough. Once we started drinking, we had no real ability to stop. The inhibitions disappeared, bad decisions followed, and we’d often spend days or weeks dealing with the consequences afterwards.
The drinking itself might only have lasted one night, but the impact lasted much longer. Depression, anxiety, regret, poor decisions, damaged relationships and the feeling that life was constantly moving one step forward and two steps back. We’d start feeling better, convince ourselves things were back under control, drink again, and find ourselves right back where we started.
In January 2024, we both decided enough was enough and started our health and fitness journeys together.
From that point, our paths took different directions, but we continued supporting each other every step of the way.
I found running. What started as a way to lose weight gradually became an obsession with seeing what I was capable of. The distances got longer, the goals got bigger, and eventually that journey led to marathons, ultramarathons and now this 215-mile coast-to-coast challenge.
Liam found his passion in strength training. Through consistency, discipline and hard work, he completely transformed himself physically and mentally, becoming someone almost unrecognisable from the person he was just a few years earlier.
Despite taking different paths, we’ve remained each other’s biggest supporters. We still encourage each other, hold each other accountable and celebrate each other’s successes. Neither of us would be where we are today without that support.
This challenge is about far more than running from one side of England to the other.
It’s about proving that change is possible. It’s about showing that you don’t have to hit rock bottom before deciding something needs to change. It’s about challenging the culture around binge drinking and raising awareness of the damage alcohol can cause even when someone doesn’t fit the stereotype of having a drinking problem.
Most of all, it’s about showing that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary change.
Two years ago, we couldn’t jog up a flight of stairs without getting out of breath. In July 2026, one of us will attempt to run 215 miles across England while the other helps make it happen.
If our story encourages even one person to rethink their relationship with alcohol, seek support, or believe that positive change is possible, then every mile will be worth it.