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A key staff member at UK Youth is preparing to go the extra mile for the national youth work charity – 26 of them to be precise.
Solomon Rackham is joining UK Youth’s team of more than 30 other runners in aiming to raise at least £2,000 for the charity by tackling the 2025 London Marathon.
“I’m doing it for the challenge and fun of it really,” says the 28-year-old, who joined UK Youth in March 2022. “I thought, there’s never going to get a better opportunity to run the marathon and also doing it for UK Youth, where I’ve been for almost three years, felt like a potentially nice way to mark the milestone.”
With a background in both research and working with young people, UK Youth is a natural fit for Solomon, where he is evaluation and learning manager, leading evaluation and learning initiatives on a range of programmes and grants.
“I think it is really helpful when you’ve worked with young people. I draw on that experience a lot when I’m designing evaluations or analysing data, because it helps if you can imagine the humans behind it.”
The 2025 London Marathon, on Sunday, April 27, will be Solomon’s first marathon, having only taken up regular running in 2023, after swapping his hometown of London for Bristol.
“I started running more regularly when I moved to Bristol in September 2023. I did the Bristol Half Marathon in May 2024 and I said then, there’s no way I’m ever doing a marathon.
“However, one of my former colleagues had run the London Marathon for UK Youth and I had flirted with the idea of entering the ballot for a place before – although when I did enter and didn’t get a place, I was so pleased!
“But when our fundraising team offered the charity places, I realised how prized these places are and what an amazing opportunity it is.”
Despite growing up in London – in West Norwood, Lambeth, just a few miles from the course – Solomon never watched the marathon. Instead, it was Sir Mo Farah’s heroics at the London 2012 Olympics which spurred him to start running.
“That’s when I started doing a bit of running to help my fitness for football,” he says. “I saw running as a means to an end to do fun stuff, rather than particularly fun on its own, but I’ve been doing sport and training since I was little.”
And despite stepping up his running since leaving London for Bristol, he admits training has not been without its hiccups, not least a broken wrist sustained in a fall from his bike in January, which put his running on hold temporarily.
“Training has not gone well,” says Solomon. “I broke my wrist in January, so it’s still in a cast. That kind of messed up my training plan.
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“I tried to jump straight back in and then started getting a bit of knee pain, but I’m confident it’ll be fine. I’m hoping that the energy of the day and the adrenaline will help me through. I’m not going to try to do it very quickly. I’m just going to trot along.
“I grew up in London. Since I’ve moved away, I’ve loved going back and I think to see the city via the marathon is going to be quite symbolic. One of my colleagues said the London Marathon is a bit like the FA Cup of marathons – everyone gets involved, it’s a nice family day, you’ve got support the whole way around.
“I’m looking forward to the atmosphere, the UK Youth cheer squad at mile 19 and, of course, the finish line.”
To support Solomon, click here.
READ MORE: UK Youth marathon runners’ pride at conquering London
About UK Youth
UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives. With an open network of more than 9,000 youth organisations and nation partners; UK Youth reaches more than four million young people across the UK and is focused on unlocking youth work as the catalyst of change that is needed now more than ever. To find out more, see ukyouth.org
UK Youth is involved in a range of programmes designed to help young people thrive, such as outdoor learning, physical literacy, social action and employability. For more on UK Youth’s programmes, see ukyouth.org/what-we-do/our-programmes
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