The challenge day
“The believers, in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy, are like one body. When one part suffers, the whole body responds with sleeplessness and fever.” (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)
This is the day everything has been working towards. It should feel organised, welcoming and full of energy. Your job is to make it run smoothly, so teams can enjoy it.
The day at a glance
| When | What happens |
| Morning | Arrival, check-in, team photos and warm-up |
| Before the start | Briefing, safety talk and a moment of du’a together |
| Midday onwards | Teams start in waves and complete the 10K |
| Afternoon | Finishers’ refreshments, prayer and rest |
| Late afternoon | Results, awards and thanks |
Arrival and check-in
Stagger arrival times so no one waits long in the cold. Check each person in, confirm their emergency contact and give each team a clear identifier and a number. Keep a calm, friendly volunteer at the desk. Show people where prayer space, changing areas and water are.
Briefing and warm-up
Gather everyone for a short briefing. Welcome the teams, explain the cause in a few warm sentences and cover the safety rules plainly. Remind teams that adapted routes exist at every obstacle and are always fine to use.
Then warm up together, and finish with a short du’a for those whom the day honours. Keep it simple.
The 10K
Teams start in waves, a few minutes apart, so the course never becomes crowded. A timing system records each runner. Marshals and control staff track every team from start to finish.
The course mixes trekking through woodland, fields and streams with obstacles along the way. Each obstacle can carry a small meaning, and reading it aloud at the start helps teams reflect as they move. Be clear that this is a gesture of solidarity, not a claim to know what a refugee journey is like.
| Obstacle | What it echoes |
| Checkpoint stations | Waiting, paperwork and decisions made by others |
| Fence and wall climbs | Barriers that cannot be walked around |
| Low crawls | Moving carefully through unsafe ground |
| Water and mud | Crossing hard ground with whatever you can carry |
| Carries | Protecting the few things that matter most |
| Team-only obstacles | No one gets through alone |
Safety note: Marshals can stop any team or individual at any time. Anyone who feels unwell, cold or unsafe must be able to step out without shame, and be looked after straight away. Safety always comes before the clock.
Scoring
The aim is to reward the whole team, not just its fastest member. Scoring works like this:
- Team time: the average finishing time of all members, so every person counts
- Obstacles: a time penalty for skipping an obstacle without good reason. Using an adapted route carries no penalty
- Teamwork: bonus marks for clear, visible mutual support
- Safety: time penalties for unsafe behaviour or ignoring a marshal
Explain the scoring clearly at the briefing, so no one feels caught out.
Awards
Awards should celebrate the many ways a team can shine. We recommend:
- Fastest team: the best average time
- Best teamwork: the team that looked after each other most
- Best team spirit: the team that brought the most joy and kindness
- Courage award: a team or individual who overcame something difficult to finish
- Most improved: the team that has come furthest, where you have a way to measure it
There is no award for the amount raised. We thank every team for what they gave.
Closing the day
Bring everyone together for the results and a heartfelt thank you. Share the combined total raised so far, thank the volunteers, marshals and first aiders by name, and end with a short du’a. Let people linger. The conversations after the finish line are often the best part.
Reflection questions
Captains can invite their teams to think on these, on the day or in the days after.
- What was the hardest moment, and who helped you through it?
- What did the day make you think about people forced to travel far from home?
- What is one thing you would like to keep doing to help?
When the day is over, the real work of carrying it forward begins.