Ten thousand feet are set to pound the streets of Leeds as runners take part in the Rob Burrow Marathon and Half Marathon later, but what drives some of those to tackle the 26.2-mile (42km) run?
“People have said to my face, ‘Daniel took the coward’s way out’. This is why we need to keep raising awareness,” Emma Oliver says.
After the death of her teenage son, she set up a charity to support young people’s mental health.
Emma runs on Sunday for Team Daniel.
“I knew he was getting stressed, obviously I did not realise how stressed,” she explains.
Daniel took his own life in February 2017. The 15-year-old was in the middle of studying for his GCSE exams.
“It just got too much for him,” remembers Emma.
“I did everything. I approached the school, I paid for a maths tutor to come in three days before he took his own life.
“I remember the tutor saying, ‘you are going to smash it’, but, even then, Daniel just was not confident.”
The heartbroken mum set up Team Daniel in the months following her son’s death.
The charity supports teenagers through exam stress with their revision hub and offers mental health support.
Workshops helping young people identify signs of bullying have also been created.
Sunday’s marathon in which Emma will be running starts at Headingley Stadium, the site of some of Rob Burrow’s greatest triumphs with Leeds Rhinos, before snaking through Woodhouse Moor, Adel and Otley and finishing back at the ground.
Emma took up running before Daniel’s death, but in the months afterwards she found moments of solace in the sprints.
“It helps my mental health, just to get out with earphones and music,” she explains.
“Sometimes the intention is to go for four miles, but by the time I have lost myself I have done six or seven.”
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