Keep on Running

“I was so unathletic… I hated everything to do with sport.”

 

We sit for a moment, whilst those words reverberate around the room.

 

The statement itself is not an uncommon one. What makes it extraordinary is the fact that it’s being delivered by an 18-year-old who plans to become the youngest woman to run the length of Britain this summer.

 

Yes. The length of Britain.

 

This is LWC Upper Sixth Former, Phoebe and there are more revelations to come.

 

“I really did hate sport,” she continues. “When I was in 4^th Form, my dad and I were looking for ways to spend more time together. We decided to start training for the LWC Chaplain’s Challenge,” (now the College’s annual Stern Challenge, which aims to cover 100km in a single day).

 

“We trained with the aim of running 5k. We were both really bad and struggled through the training. It was really difficult. Once we’d managed 5k though, we decided to try 8k. When it got to the Chaplain’s Challenge, I ran 30.”

 

And so began Phoebe’s love of running.

 

“I really enjoyed it and decided I would just carry on after that.”

 

Nearly three years later and Phoebe is living proof of what happens when the LWC philosophy of encouraging a love of movement is deployed. She has gone on to enter Endure 24 (a 24-hour trail running relay), various half-marathons and has become a member of Basingstoke Running Club. She’s also continued to take part in every Chaplain’s/Stern Challenge at the College since her first – culminating in last May’s event, which she helped to plan.

 

“Being Autistic means that my brain feels like a very busy place. Running is a time when it all slows down. I can just focus on moving. I’m not thinking about anything in particular and I kind of like that. It allows me to switch off, get out into nature and it’s become a special place.”

— Phoebe, Upper Sixth

 

But arguably Phoebe’s toughest challenge is still to come. In April, she will attempt the London Marathon. “I think once I started running, I knew that I wanted to do a marathon, but I had to wait until I was 18,” she smiles. “I’ve run the distance before, but this will be my first official race.”

 

On 26^th April, Phoebe will line up alongside just under 60,000 others to race through the streets of the capital and naturally, her dad will be with her. “He got a ballot spot,” she reveals (which is no mean feat when a record-breaking 1.13 million people were also vying for places). “I applied for a charity place and am running for the National Autistic Society.”

 

The charity is important to Phoebe, having received her own Autism diagnosis in 2024.

 

“Being Autistic means that my brain feels like a very busy place,” she continues. “Running is a time when it all slows down. I can just focus on moving. I’m not thinking about anything in particular and I kind of like that. It allows me to switch off, get out into nature and it’s become a special place.”

 

Phoebe openly talks about her diagnosis and describes it as life-changing.

 

“It’s really changed how I think about myself. It’s helped me to understand myself much more and I think I’ve grown in confidence as a result. It just makes everything fit together and I can see how Autism has affected my life positively. It’s certainly led me to running.”

   

Phoebe’s love of long-distance seems even more remarkable when you consider that as a child, her hypermobility led medics to conclude that exercise may become a problem. “I was told that I might not be able to walk,” she admits. Now, she stands on the brink of a record-breaking feat which relies on both physical and mental strength.

 

Having completed the London Marathon and addressed the not insignificant challenge of her A-levels this summer, Phoebe plans to run from John O’Groats to Land’s End.

 

“I was sitting in Mr Williams’ office one day (LWC Head). It was during the time I was being assessed, and I was having a bit of a moment,” she explains. “A few days later, he sent me a link to a story about Imo Boddy, a British ultra marathon runner who had set the women’s record for climbing and running the UK’s Three Peaks Challenge. I went into a deep dive about her and it turned out she also held the record for being the youngest female to run the length of the UK.

 

“I thought…I can do that.”

 

And so on Saturday, 20^th June, Phoebe (and yes, her dad) will set off from the northernmost point of mainland Scotland, destined for the most southerly tip of the UK, at Land’s End.

 

“I was hoping to become the youngest person to ever do it,” Phoebe nonchalantly points out. “But then a 17-year-old boy beat me to it, so I’ll stick with being the youngest woman.”

 

Phoebe estimates that the challenge will take more than two months to complete, requiring her to run an average of 18 to 20 miles a day. Whilst she admits that injury is a risk, Phoebe talks animatedly about the prospect of taking in Scotland’s scenic backdrop and visiting places she’s never seen before. She even hopes to encourage LWC’s Sternian community, together with local running clubs, to join her for legs along the way.

 

This time, the beneficiaries of Phoebe’s efforts will be the National Autistic Society and the Lord Wandsworth Foundation, for which she hopes to raise as much as she can.

 

“I want to give something back to the school,” she admits. “If it wasn’t for LWC, I might never have got into running and if it wasn’t for Mr Williams, I might not be doing this.”

 

But there’s still one final loose shoelace to tie up. All of this will be done in the summer of Phoebe’s A-levels.  She hopes to study medicine at university, with a specific interest in sports medicine. Her exams will be sandwiched between both of her challenges and A-level Results Day in mid-August will see her indisposed elsewhere, mid-challenge.

 

“I’ve worked it all out and Results Day will be a running day,” she reflects. “I’ll log on for my results that morning and then carry on running.”

 

Details of how to sponsor Phoebe in her quest to run the London Marathon 2026, can be found on her fundraising page.