350 runners braved the elements in the early hours of Saturday morning (22ndNovember 2025), to take part in a unique event held at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, all in aid of the airport’s charity partner Alder Hey Children’s Charity, with over £70,000 forecast to have been raised.
At 2am in the early hours of Saturday, the runway lights were all on. Still, instead of being used to guide aircraft during take-offs and landings, they lit the way for 350 runners participating in a unique 5K Runway Run along the length of the airport runway, whilst raising thousands of pounds for Alder Hey Children’s Charity.
With flights departing and arriving at the airport year-round from early in the morning until late at night, the Airport Company have been planning the event for months, working with a gap in their busy year-round airline schedules to stage the race between 2am and 3am on Saturday, without impacting normal airport operations.
Congratulations go to Ashley Taylor, aged 35 from Preston and Magdalena Watling, aged 43 from Liverpool, who ran the length of the runway down and back to complete the 5K course as the fastest male and female runners.
This unique, one-off event was kindly sponsored by a number of partners, including easyJet, easyJet Holidays, aviation security company Wilson James, general and business aviation operator Ravenair and the M&S Bank Arena.
The sponsorships and fees from all participants have yet to be accounted for, but over £70,000 is expected to have been raised, with all proceeds from the night going towards the airport’s target of £86k for medical equipment required within Alder Hey’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Carol Dutton, LJLA’s HR and Community Director commented:
“This was a fantastic commitment from the hundreds of runners who came along in the early hours and braved the rain to take part in this unique event, all in aid of Alder Hey and well worth all the effort of so many employees at the airport who helped out on the night giving up their time to ensure the event went so well and helping to raise so much money for Alder Hey.”
Katy Armitage, Corporate Partnerships Fundraiser at Alder Hey Children’s Charity commented:
“Wow what a night! Thank you so much to all the incredible runners who took part in the first ever Liverpool John Lennon Airport 5k Runway Night Run in aid of Alder Hey. We have been overwhelmed by the amount of incredible support and are so grateful to everyone who helped to make this special event happen. All of the money raised from tonight will be going towards life changing equipment in our new Surgical Neonatal Unit at Alder Hey, helping us to provide the best care and support possible to some of our smallest and most vulnerable patients.”
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