8-time SLM runner, Josh Ord-Hume, reflects on his experiences running the Sierra Leone Marathon and the races humble beginnings — Street Child

But there is still work to be done. Scars of civil war and corruption remain: a significant percentage of the population still live below the poverty line, and literally thousands of children still sleep out every night on the unpaved streets of Freetown, amid open sewers, stray dogs and malaria-carrying bugs. This is why running the Sierra Leone Marathon is so important. Apart from the training, getting there and then surviving the heat and the tough terrain, there’s the overwhelming scale of the poverty that we are raising funds to help fight. The impact Street Child has had in Sierra Leone since 2008 speaks for itself. 208,750 children reached and over 1,000 classrooms built. The impact Street Child has continues to have is vital.

If you are reading these words, it is because you are already flirting with the idea of coming with us. The question “Why should I do this?” is already colliding with your synapses. But you are, of course, asking yourself the wrong question. The question you should be asking is “Why shouldn’t I do this?”.

If you are still undecided, I can help you out. I can look you straight in the eye and tell you that it is absolutely, absolutely worth your while doing it. I can promise you that you will be helping to effect sustainable change in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. And I can promise you that it will change you.