Mad March Mile 2026 – RUH Bath Neonatal Unit fundraising

Back in 2014, siblings Sean and Gretchen decided to motivate each other to be more active, and keep fit mentally and physically, by setting themselves the challenge to run a mile every day throughout March. They were joined by 14 friends, and the Mad March Mile was born!

Now in its 13th year, around 300 people lace up each year to take on this daily challenge in March. Any activity is allowed as long it takes a similar amount of time to run a mile (15-20mins).

Each year, Sean and Gretchen choose a local charity to support, and this year all money raised will go to the Neonatal Unit (NNU) at Royal United Hospitals Bath. Sean was inspired by the work they do for premature babies after his son Ben and grandson Atlas both received outstanding care in the unit in 1989 and 2025 respectively.

Sean and his wife Fiona were in complete shock when she went into labour at six months pregnant back in April 1989. Both were 21 when their eldest son was born, and they were “blissfully unaware”; they hadn’t had an antenatal class yet, and they had no idea what a premature baby was.

When Ben was born, he was blue, silent and motionless. The doctor put him under a heat lamp to keep him warm and then started to do mouth to mouth resuscitation through a little air pump into his tiny 2lbs 2ounces body. Sean remembers the doctor shaking as he saved Ben’s life.

At the time, NNU did not have rooms for parents to stay over, so Sean and Fiona would travel to RUH from Trowbridge three times a day to see their son. Ben made amazing progress, growing in strength day by day, and was discharged 2 months later when he weighed 4lbs.

To celebrate, Sean and Fiona drove straight from the RUH to West Wales for a holiday. Stopping at the service station on the other side of the M4, they suddenly realised that if you’ve got a 4lbs baby and someone sees you, they tell everybody! “We had to get out of the services because it was like we were super stars. Everyone wanted to see this little baby, a 4lbs baby, ridiculously small, and this is twice the size than when he was born!” remembers Sean.

Fast forward 36 years and Ben had a baby boy, Atlas, who was 6 weeks premature and weighed 6lbs 3ounces. When Sean went to visit his grandson in NNU for the first time, he walked through the doors to the unit, rubbed his hands with hand sanitiser, and he was overwhelmed with emotion. 

“The smell of the hand sanitiser reminded me of 36 years ago, going in there every single day. It’s so emotive and I couldn’t even go in to see him for a bit; I had to sit down and gather my thoughts because of this hit back on my emotions. The shock hit me like an explosion,” recalls Sean.

His grandson, Atlas, spent 11 days in NNU and now is at home fit and healthy. Sean says: “The technology developed over those 36 years is unbelievable. It’s all in the same place, but it’s all modernised, parents can stay there, it’s a fantastic facility. I said to Ben, we need to come back and do some fundraising for these people, and I banked it in my head, I know who to choose for the charity next year,” remembers Sean.

All Mad March Mile participants receive a personalised mug from White Horse pottery in Westbury, which has created mugs for the event since it all began in 2014. White Horse pottery will also be organising a 24-hour pottery throw down, where for a donation to NNU, you can book a 20-minute slot over a 24-hour period to throw a pot or bowl.

Do something extraordinary for RUH Bath and sign up to the Mad March Mile here: Mad March Mile 2026 – https://www.entrycentral.com/MMM2026.