Challenge Events
Be part of something that really does change lives.
Want to accompany, serve, and advocate with and for refugees and forcibly displaced people?
By training, improving your fitness, and beating your personal best you may surprise yourself at what you can do.
By taking on a challenge such as the London Marathon or the Royal Parks Half you can raise money for people seeking safety in the UK.
To find out more, get in touch with us at fiona.oteng@jrs.net
London Legal Walk
Tuesday 17th June 2025
Registration: free
Group Fundraising target: £2000
Sign up by June 2025
Vitality London 10k
Sunday 28th September 2025
Registration: £30
Fundraising target: £350
Sign up by: July 2025
Royal Parks Half Marathon
Sunday 12th October 2025
Registration: £30
Fundraising target: £350
Sign up by: July 2025
London Marathon 2026
Sunday 26th April 2026
Registration: £100
Fundraising target: £2000
Sign up by: December 2025
Hear from previous runners
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It's my turn to give back
When I was an asylum seeker, JRS UK supported me. Now, I also want to use my body to run the Marathon for JRS UK.
Now that I’m able to move forward with my life, I want to give back to JRS UK and be a friend to other people who are stuck in limbo. I’m volunteering at JRS UK with the English and drama classes, the JRS shop and acupuncture.
The light of hope
While running, I sometimes still recall my first visit to Primrose Hill, a place where I learned to keep my hope alive. What differs now is that, in every step of my running, I am aware that I am also extending my help to others. As the Church celebrates the Jubilee Year and invites us to become ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, I wish that what I do will offer my refugee brothers and sisters a similar light of hope in their difficult times.
Running for a great cause
I am currently getting my MSc in Migration Studies at Oxford University and hope to dedicate my career to working with migrants and refugees. Running for a greater cause has always pushed me to be a better runner, and I can think of no better cause to raise money for than an organisation that works to help the migrant and refugee populations that I also hope to support and work with in the future!
Why Annabelle is running for JRS UK
A week before Annabelle took on the London Marathon, she invited us to join her for one of her final pre-marathon runs, sharing why she is running for refugees, how her faith motivates her to run with JRS UK, and the biggest challenges of training.
It exceeded all my expectations!
The atmosphere of the Marathon is unique; there are bands playing, people cheering, co-runners encouraging others, energy gels, waters and jellybeans handed out in plenty. The journey in itself is stunning, you get to run past and through some of the most iconic London sights. It was definitely worth the pain!
Nobody chooses to be a refugee
Yesterday I was in pain, my feet were hurting, my legs were hurting—I was thinking: I am hurting because I chose to go running. But a refugee has their whole body, their whole soul hurting—everything is hurting. Also, I was going to run and get home, I was going to have a nice shower, and eat—they don’t know when they are going to arrive, and they don’t know where they are going to arrive. When I am in pain I think: this is nothing compared to what they would have to go through.
