Earlier this month The University of Manchester Worldwide Hong Kong held a charity run which was a great success. Participants took part (virtually!) from as far afield as Australia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, India, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Nigeria, the USA and Peru! A total of 240 participants from 51 cities in 24 countries across 16 time zones participated.

Many alumni and friends of the University came together to support this charity event which also attempted to achieve the Guinness World Record attempt for the “Most People Running/Jogging Online Simultaneously”. We’ll find out soon if this has been successful.

This world record-setting global charity run was initiated by Manchester Business School Alumni Association Hong Kong (MBSAAHK) in response to Manchester Day of Action and was strongly supported by the various Manchester alumni associations from Singapore and Malaysia. The event was made possible by coordination from the East Asia, South East Asia, Middle East, Latin America University of Manchester Worldwide Centres and the Division of Development and Alumni Relations. Without their support the event wouldn’t have had such a great outcome.

The charity beneficiaries included the University Emergency Hardship Fund, St. John’s home administered sheltered home and health services in Singapore and the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association in Hong Kong. By fund-raising to support the University and the local NGOs, this event also contributed to a number of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

This was is the first time MBSAAHK had organised a worldwide event and was a great experience that also united the Manchester alumni family across countries whilst promoting a healthy lifestyle. Feedback from participants has been very positive, they felt connected with a great sense of belonging to The University of Manchester community.