Dementia UK Craig ‘Chippy’ 72 Hour Running Challenge
Craig Reast, known as Craig Chippy or Chipstar, completed an epic challenge earlier this year – running three miles every three hours for three days to raise money for Dementia UK, in memory of his Dad.
Craig’s Dad went in to care in 2019 suffering with Dementia and sadly passed away in September 2024. To honour his memory Craig chose a running challenge to help raise funds and raise awareness for Dementia UK. Craig ‘Chippy’ only joined Wreake Runners in Syston about a month ago but has been running for a long time. He also ran the London Landmarks half marathon in April and set up a fundraising page with a target goal of £350. By the end of the challenge his page has received over £1,100 with hundreds more in cash offline to add to his total. His employer at Cedar Mews Care Home in Birstall has generously offered to match his fundraising too.
It was only a week before his challenge that he quietly mentioned it to someone at the running club and they suggested he should post it on the club Facebook group. As one of the clubs’ chosen charities this year, his clubmates were only too happy to support and the challenge quickly gathered momentum as it progressed.
Members were posting pictures of themselves with Craig every three hours – with some support even during the very tough and dark hours between 9pm and 6am each night.
He was faced with every kind of weather and freezing temperatures. By mixing up his routes from Thurmaston, where he lives, to Syston, Watermead, Birstall and Bradgate Park meant he had more variety but less time to rest and refuel in between each run, making it a little harder for himself. In total, Craig ran 75 miles over the 25 runs.
He chose to run the last one alone with just him and his Dad. His first run began at Cedar Mews and he finished his last run there too, cheered on by colleagues and residents.
Dementia UK is the specialist dementia nurse charity. Their nurses, called Admiral Nurses provide life-changing care for families affected by all forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Dementia can be considered a lonely disease with lack of physical activity and depression also linked to the condition.
However the support shown to Craig during this challenge by his family, friends and clubmates helped to highlight that working together can overcome some of these factors and that people shouldn’t have to be alone during tough times.
If you are able to support Craig’s fundraising for Dementia, you can by visiting his Justgiving page https://www.justgiving.com/page/c-d-1721673253885?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL
