The brilliant Anna’s Hope 5K Run took place ahead of the half marathon and we cheered on Kris and Gillian in the 5km race who ran in support of CPSL Mind. Kris is a staff member at CPSL Mind and works in the discharge buddy service. It was wonderful to see runners of all ages and abilities take part.

We were delighted to have six runners supporting the charity in the half marathon race, thank you so much to everyone who took part. Our runner Chloe unfortunately couldn’t run due to injury but fundraised for us and took photographs on the day. Thank you, Chloe.

CPSL Mind’s Debbie Glonek, who works in the fundraising team, and Olivia Hubbard from the Communications team headed down to the race village and cheered on the runners as they ran through the Cathedral arch. CPSL Mind volunteers, Natalie and Scott supported the team in the race village and shared insights into the charity’s work. A huge thank you to our amazing volunteers for their support on the day, who have raised an incredible £3,435 for CPSL Mind. Thank you!

The Great Eastern Run 2024

This year’s route around Peterborough had been improved by the event organisers, making it 100% based on road, redesigning the use of Embankment, the relocation of start and finish points onto Bishops Road nearby, as well as tweaking the race route with the best possible route in mind.

Peterborough Cathedral featured in the event for the first time ever. The race village was a circus of activity – chilly runners huddled with family and friends and began to get in their zone. It was wonderful to see CPSL Mind supporter, the masked monster, who owns the gym muscle mind and fitness, and whose daughter Jess ran in support of CPSL Mind. Writing on social media after the event, he shared a group picture at the CPSL Mind stand and said, “Great people, doing great things.”

Andy, who took part in the Great Eastern Run Half Marathon spoke to us just before he crossed the start line and said, “CPSL Mind is a great local mental health charity that supports people with a range of mental health challenges. This is my fourth Great Eastern Run and I’m hopefully going for the London Marathon next year. Running is great for your mental health and great for you. It’s cold today though! Training has gone well, and I’ve managed to get a few 10 mile runs in.” We shouted ‘Good Luck Andy” and he was off to find his starting position.

William Austin-Lobley also took part on behalf of CPSL Mind and spoke on the importance of speaking openly about your mental health, just before he started mile one, he said, “I really admire the work that CPSL Mind does in the local area, going into businesses across the community, running good mood cafes etc. The most important thing we have is connection and not feeling alone. It’s very easy to get into your head and think that you are the only one to feel like this. Being able to communicate that you aren’t alone is a great first step. I did a full length 20-week training and only missed the one training run. I’m as ready as you can be.”

CPSL Mind runner, Benji, was the first to run through the Cathedral arch, blink and you missed him.

There was an incredible atmosphere in the City Centre; strangers shouted the names printed on club shirts, children climbed on the railings to get a better look at the athlete’s faces, and the CPSL Mind t-shirt blew in the breeze and caught the eye of all of our runners – looking up, they would smile and know they had just four miles to go to reach the finish line.

We felt so proud of everyone who competed on the day. Some of our runners had personal connections to mental health and one runner took part in memory of his brother who sadly lost his life to suicide earlier this year. It was an incredibly emotional day for so many.

CPSL Mind volunteer Natalie has been volunteering with CPSL Mind since February 2019.Sharing her enthusiasm for supporting the charity on the day, she said, “It was really nice to be able to help CPSL Mind run a stall at the Great Eastern Run. Last year I had been helping the main event by unboxing the medals and giving out the goodie bags to the runners at the finish line.”

Commenting on the Great Eastern Run and the importance of fundraising for the charity, Debbie Glonek, Fundraising and Events Co-Ordinator at CPSL Mind, said, “The incredible strength and determination shown by all of our runners in the lead up, and on race day, was truly remarkable. It was great to meet all the runners and their families at the event and I felt the level of support and care that everyone had. It warmed my soul to see so many people doing good on behalf of others who may be experiencing a difficult time. There was a buzz around the CPSL Mind stall of people coming together, staff, volunteers, runners and their families. I’m looking forward to next year and long may it continue.”

Speaking on why these types of events are so important to the charity, Debbie said, “Fundraising helps to support, develop, and grow our services and it’s really exciting to add The Great Eastern Run to our fundraising events schedule. We have had huge success with the Cambridge Half Marathon, and I can’t wait to meet and support everyone in March 2025 in Cambridge. There are so many fundraising opportunities available – do visit our fundraising pages on the CPSL Mind website to find out more. By fundraising for us you will be directly supporting local residents across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire.”

Why not skydive for us? If skydiving is on your bucket list, then we have the challenge for you. Our annual CPSL Mind skydives at Sibson Airfield, Peterborough, are as popular as ever so don’t delay, sign up today.