Geologist hits halfway mark of 30-marathons-for-30-charities-before-30 challenge

A geologist taking on 30 marathons for 30 charities before her 30th birthday has reached the halfway point of the inspiring and “slightly crazy” feat.

Lucinda Layfield, who splits her time between London and Aberdeen, did her first marathon on January 1 for Alcohol Change UK, with the last one to take place on November 26 – the day of her 30th birthday.

On completing her 15th marathon for the LGBT Foundation on June 20, the 29-year-old told the PA news agency: “It doesn’t feel that far to go now.”

“I have gained confidence and belief in myself”, she added.

“Often I think it’s quite tricky and most of us can relate to having imposter syndrome, but when you take the time to reflect, you think, I have done well and I know I’m going to get there.”

Lucinda Layfield during marathon 15 for the LGBT Foundation (Jamie Moran/Lucinda Layfield/PA)

Ms Layfield has balanced the running challenge alongside her full-time job as a geologist for an energy company and studying for a PhD on the geology of the area between the Faroe Islands and the Shetland Islands.

The idea behind the marathons endeavour was sparked halfway through last year.

“I thought, what can I do for my 30th birthday to remember this milestone in my life?” Ms Layfield said.

“I wanted to do something that would potentially be good for other people and could inspire them and also bring together lots of different charities within one event.”

Ms Layfield has tried to run each marathon on a day which is linked to the charity she is raising money for, which often involves meticulous planning and creating a calendar of events.

Marathon six for Comic Relief took place on Red Nose Day (Jamie Moran/Lucinda Layfield/PA)

“I researched when Red Nose Day was, Armed Forces Day, Pride and I thought, OK, why don’t I just run on these days or as close as I possibly can”, she said.

“I ended up emailing lots of different charities, telling them what I was doing and asking them if they could send me a T-shirt.

“Some of the charities’ focuses are relevant to me – I did a 100km ultra-marathon from London to Brighton – [which was the equivalent of a little over two marathons] – to support Action Aid and The National Association for Premenstrual Syndromes (NAPS) in aid of Menstrual Hygiene Day because I’ve suffered with premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

“Other charities are relevant to family and friends and others are charities that I thought were fantastic.”

The Leeds Marathon (marathon 12), which raised money for Mind, was chosen as her favourite, since she is originally from Leeds.

“I basically ran the marathon around my home town where I grew up and the atmosphere was amazing,” she said.

“That was the marathon where Kevin Sinfield carried Rob Burrow over the finish line and it was extremely emotional and my friends and family came up to see me.

“I also actually saw some old school friends lined up, cheering me on, so that was a real highlight.”

Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield cross the finish line of the 2023 Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon (Danny Lawson/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Danny Lawson

She also “pounded the pavements” and even some water while on holiday in Chile for one of her runs.

“I ended up trying to run through huge areas of river, so I had very wet feet for parts of it and that was for a Ukrainian charity at a time which marked one year since Russia invaded Ukraine.”

She added that most of her training took place last year, which would involve long runs, often on weekends, and running on the treadmill and doing upper body workouts at the gym.

With donations close to the 25% mark – having raised over £7,000 out of the £30,000 target – Ms Layfield has reflected on how “absolutely incredible” it has been to have received so much support.

Marathon 11 for Rock2Recovery during Mental Heath Awareness Week (Jamie Moran/Lucinda Layfield/PA)

“There is a cost-of-living crisis going on and I find it amazing that people have donated money, even though they may have very little money themselves”, she said.

“I get quite emotional thinking about it to be honest and I’ve had messages from running groups over England asking me to join their running group for a run.

“So many have reached out saying, ‘can we share your story?’ and my work has also been really supportive, as well as my partner Jamie who gives up lots of time to be there with me for the runs and throughout the whole process.”

She added: “There are probably some who may think the idea is slightly crazy or I am having a quarter-life crisis, but that’s fine as I’m raising money for charity and awareness for their work.”

Marathon 10 for WWF for Earth Day (Jamie Moran/Lucinda Layfield/PA)

As Ms Layfield dons her trainers to take on her 16th marathon over the weekend in Scotland for SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity, she said she is most looking forward to “running in cooler temperatures”.

“I sound like a typical British person whinging about the weather,” she joked.

“My step-mum works for SSAFA and I see the absolutely incredible work they do for our veterans, and I’m looking forward to digging deep and seeing what I have in the tank.”

Ms Layfield’s JustGiving page can be found here, with money raised to be split between the different charities: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/30for30before-30