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1 August 2026 — 1 August 2045

The challenge

Dr Strings started with one lap of the planet. Hopkins turned it into a race to the Moon and back.

Dr Strings is running 24,894 miles around the world before she retires. Hopkins has answered with a community team aiming for the Moon and back. Both routes are raising money for the same nine charities, with £1 million to aim for.

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Linocut-style illustration showing Dr Strings’ route around Earth and Hopkins’ route from Hastings to the Moon and back.
Both virtual routes begin and finish in Hastings.

How it started

How one lap became a race

Dr Strings and Hopkins work together in the Hastings & Rother Community Learning Disability Team. While out on a run together, Dr Strings announced that she intended to run around the world before she retired.

After Hopkins had stopped laughing, she pointed out three small problems:

  1. Dr Strings has arthritic knees.
  2. Dr Strings says she already runs “like an old lady” — and expects this to get worse with every passing year.
  3. Anything Dr Strings can do, Hopkins can do better.

Hopkins promptly boasted that she could get to the Moon and back before Dr Strings completed her lap of the planet. Dr Strings was happy to accept, having a slightly better grasp of the distances involved.

After sleeping on it, Googling the distance and discovering that the Moon really is very far away, Hopkins returned with a plan: she would build a team, pool their miles, beat the good doctor and help the campaign raise even more money.

The gauntlet was thrown down.

On 1 August 2026, Dr Strings and Hopkins set off together from Hastings — on two different routes, but with one shared goal: to raise £1 million for nine charities.

The routes

Earth versus Moon

The distances are very different, so progress is compared by the percentage of each team’s own route completed.

Team Earth · Dr Strings

Right around the world

Dr Strings is taking this one on solo. Her virtual route starts and finishes on the Sussex coast, with a few rather ambitious stops along the way.

Hastings → Rye → Dungeness → Folkestone → Dover → Calais → Paris → Istanbul → Tbilisi → Samarkand → Delhi → Kathmandu → Bangkok → Singapore → Bali → Darwin → Sydney → Auckland → Honolulu → San Francisco → Hastings

Route target
24,894 miles
Runner
Dr Strings only
Joining
Closed solo team — sofa-supporters welcome
Follow Dr Strings’ journey

Team Moon · Hopkins

To the Moon and back

Hopkins leads an open community team. Every eligible mile its runners complete is added to one enormous collective journey from Hastings to the Moon and home again.

Route target
477,710 miles
Team leader
Hopkins
Runners
Open to volunteers
Cost to join
Free — no donation required
Add your miles to Team Moon

Our mission

Take good mental health into the big, wide world

Dr Strings and Hopkins believe good mental health thrives in connection — with ourselves, with each other and with the natural world.

That is why the campaign is raising £1 million for seven local causes that create friendship, creativity, skills and routes into work, alongside two environmental charities protecting the places and wildlife that help all of us thrive.

Meet the nine charities

Nineteen years

From first step to retirement

The challenge runs for exactly nineteen years, giving both extraordinary routes time to unfold.

  1. 1 August 2026

    The challenge began

    Running and fundraising started on the Sussex coast.

  2. Every month

    Miles keep moving

    Both teams add completed runs and the campaign total grows.

  3. Every year

    One year closer

    The finish line gets nearer and the £1 million goal stays in sight.

  4. 1 August 2045

    The finish line

    The race reaches retirement — one incredibly tired step at a time.

Keeping the race fair

Compare the percentages, not the raw miles

Team Moon’s route is about nineteen times longer than Team Earth’s. A straight mileage contest would be rather unfair, so each team is judged by how much of its own route it has completed.

That gives both teams an equal chance — and plenty to tease each other about along the way.

See the current percentages

Keeping things straight

Challenge rules

Simple rules keep the mileage honest, protect runners’ privacy and make the friendly race easy to follow.

Every completed mile counts

A mile joins the total once someone has actually run it. Fast, slow, sunny or soggy — it all helps.

One run, one team

Each run counts once for either Team Earth or Team Moon.

Keep it honest

Only completed runs belong in the total. If a result looks wrong, tell us and we will put it right.

Routes stay private

We share how far the teams have travelled, not anyone’s exact GPS route.

Cheering counts too

You do not have to run. Donate, share the challenge or join Team Sofa with pride.

Who can join?

Team Moon welcomes volunteer runners. Team Earth is Dr Strings’ solo challenge. Under-18s need a parent or guardian to contact us first.

Questions

Challenge FAQs

Do I have to donate to run with Team Moon?

No. Joining Team Moon is free.

Do I have to run or register to donate?

No. You can donate without running or creating an account.

Is Team Earth open to runners?

No. Dr Strings is tackling Team Earth solo. Everyone else can cheer her on, donate or proudly join Team Sofa.

Can I connect Strava later?

Yes. You can join Team Moon first and connect Strava from your GiveWheel page whenever you are ready.

How are the different targets compared?

Each team’s completed distance is divided by its own route target. The higher percentage is further ahead, even when the raw mileage is lower.

Why is the challenge virtual?

So Dr Strings and Hopkins can keep doing their jobs without returning to a huge backlog of appointments and paperwork.

Two enormous routes. Nine charities. One million pounds to aim for.

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