CEOs swap running companies for Sport Relief relay

Some of London’s top CEOs and business leaders today pledged to run a 140-mile relay along the Thames for Sport Relief.

A group of 28 CEOs from organisations including Goldman Sachs, Google, Mars, Fitbit and the FA will take part in the Thames Relay Challenge on March 4.

Each CEO will complete a leg before passing on the baton, running between five and 10 miles. All proceeds from sponsorship will go to the charity.

Comic Relief chairman Tim Davie, who is leading the challenge, said: “I felt like a lot of CEOs see their staff do great fundraising pushes for Comic Relief and wanted to come up with something CEOs could do. I have always lived along the Thames so it came from there.”

Camilla Harrison, chief executive of creative agency Anomaly, is one of 12 women running. She said: “I am sporty so physically I should be OK. I run and train.

"And I am stubborn and competitive — so the more rain or cold will probably spur me on. I’ll get some sort of perverse enjoyment from it.”

But Kathryn Jacob, CEO of Pearl and Dean, was less convinced of her physical ability. “I wouldn’t class the occasional yoga or pilates session as being a sportswoman. Even my downward facing dogs aren’t great. But there is a great sense of camaraderie.”

This year marks the fifth time the Standard’s Dispossessed Fund has joined forces with Sport Relief and Comic Relief to raise money for Londoners in poverty.

The partnership has resulted in cash injections of £4 million to our fund, with the money backing 271 projects across the capital.