A run club in every city in the UK: Esmée Gummer officially confirmed as a Guinness World Records title holder

On the morning of Saturday 27 June, Esmee Gummer began an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for hosting a run club in every UK city, which she coined The Nations 5km—with an important caveat: she would also run between each city, which amounted to over 5,000km (3,107 miles) of running.

About the challenge

The 99-day challenge started in Inverness and ended on 3 October in London. Each event was set up as a free run club—encouraging anyone to join for a walk, run or jog. Gummer averaged 50km per day, with some peak days averaging as much as 70km.

In order to officially check every run club off, a minimum of 20 people needed to join.

The challenge has supported Wings for Life, Sport in Mind and other charities connected to people in The Nations 5km community.

Know the numbers

• 76 cities

• 5,000km (3,100 miles)

• 99 days

• Average of 50km per day (31.1 miles)

• As of 5 October, Gummer has raised £14.6k (98% of her £15k target)

Who is Esmee Gummer?

Esmee, 35, is from Essex and has always been interested in sports, from dancing and running, to the gym and coaching. She even qualified as a personal trainer after learning to walk again at 18 years old, following a reaction to an anaesthetic from a surgery, paralysing her from the waist down.

On an incredible journey, she learnt to walk again and made a promise to herself to say yes to movement. When asked about physical activity, she said: “you have to keep saying yes because you are going to have to say no. So if you can, do, and if you can’t, don’t. And when that day comes, please look back and say I have had a really good time”.

The constant motivation for Gummer is inspiring others to get moving; she stated that everyone has “got to say yes” and “I want everyone to feel the feeling of a finish line”.

As of early October, Gummer has 90k followers on her own Instagram and 5k followers on The Nations 5km update page.

See more on Esmee’s Instagram: @esmee_ldn.

Photography credit: @esmee_ldn on Instagram