Some runways become more than tarmac. This September, we're running them for the people who need us most.

There is a photograph of Andrew Nash, standing on Gatwick's runway in April 2020. The world's busiest single runway, and on that particular day, barely a plane in sight. Andrew had spent years on that runway. He had inspected every inch of it, led his team through every repair, walked it at night most weeks. It was, as he put it, his runway. And in those strange, frightening early weeks of the pandemic — when aviation fell silent and nobody knew what came next — he found himself standing on it wondering what the future held for him, his colleagues, his industry and the people he loved. In those early days, Andrew reached out to Aviation Action. Nothing dramatic, he says. Just some reassurance. Someone to help settle an overthinking mind. And it helped. He has taken part in every single Run the Runways since. He has encouraged colleagues, inspired his workplace to get involved, and watched the event grow into something that genuinely matters to the aviation community. This year, he will go again. Andrew's story is not unusual. It is, in many ways, the story of aviation.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Aviation asks a great deal of the people who work in it. Shift patterns that blur days into nights. The weight of safety critical decisions. Time spent away from home, from family, from the routines that keep most of us grounded. A professional culture that has, for too long, treated asking for help as a sign of weakness. Mental health challenges are deeply present across our industry. They are often invisible, often unspoken and sometimes, with devastating consequences, they go unaddressed altogether. September is Suicide Awareness Month. That is why we run in September. Not just to cover miles, but to say clearly and publicly that this industry sees its people, that it takes their struggles seriously, and that nobody should face their darkest moments without support.

THE CHALLENGE

Run the Runways 2026 is a virtual running challenge. Every day throughout September, participants across the UK and beyond will run, walk or jog the length of a real airport runway. A different one every day. We begin on 1st September at Inverness, Scotland's most northerly commercial airport, and we travel south through 28 iconic UK strips: Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bristol, Gloucestershire, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Southend, Belfast and more. On 30th September, we close at Frankfurt, one of Europe's greatest aviation hubs, on a runway stretching 4,000 metres. Thirty days. Thirty runways. Nearly 69 kilometres of collective tarmac. You do not need to be a runner. You do not need to be fast. Some days the runway is under 1,500 metres. Some days it is nearly 4 kilometres. Every single one of them counts.

OUR LEGACY

Aviation Action has been running this challenge every September since 2020. In that time, our community has raised over £100,000 for mental health and suicide awareness in aviation. That is not a statistic to be skimmed past. That is real money that has funded real support for real people in our industry. Training delivered. Peer supporters equipped. Someone on the other end of the phone when it mattered most. This is the event that started on empty runways during a pandemic and has grown, year on year, because the aviation community showed up for it. Because people like Andrew showed up for it. 2026 is our biggest year yet.

WHERE THE MONEY GOES

Aviation Action is the only mental health and wellbeing charity in the UK dedicated entirely to the aviation industry. We exist because aviation is different and the people who work in it deserve support that genuinely understands that world. The funds raised through Run the Runways 2026 will go towards two things. The first is Aviation Action's new independent peer support network — a confidential, aviation specific service where professionals can speak to someone who truly understands their pressures. Not a generic helpline. A peer. Someone who has sat in the same seat, worn the same uniform and worked the same shifts. The second is mental health and suicide awareness training delivered directly to aviation employers, teams and individuals across the UK. Practical, evidence based and built for this industry. Suicide is not talked about enough in aviation. That silence costs lives. Your support helps us change that.

World Suicide Prevention Day — 10 September

On 10th September, Day 10 of the challenge, we will be running the runway at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on World Suicide Prevention Day. We ask every participant to run that day with someone in mind. A colleague. A friend. Someone in aviation you have noticed has been quiet lately. Someone you wish you had checked in on sooner. You do not have to say anything out loud. Just run. And know that your steps on that day are part of something that matters far beyond the miles.

JOIN US

Whether you are a pilot or work in passenger services. Whether you are on the ramp, in a tower or sitting in an office keeping the whole operation running. Whether you have never run before or you run every day. This challenge is for you. Register for £30 with a personal sponsorship target of £150, or £40 with no target. Every penny raised goes directly towards a future where no one in aviation faces their darkest moments without support. Lace up. Step out. Run the Runways. And if today is a hard day for you, please know that Aviation Action is here. email hello@aviationaction.org.

Taking off for Suicide Awareness. Let's make September count. ✈️