Beyond the Boundary: Jack Davies’ (Bl 18) 24 Marathons in 24 Days

After eight years playing professional cricket, Jack Davies (Bl 18) decided to mark the end of his career with an extraordinary challenge: running 24 marathons in 24 days around Battersea Park, covering an incredible 1,012km. Inspired by a personal connection to The Brompton Fountain, a charity supporting children with serious heart conditions and their families, Jack set out to put his fitness to good use and raise money for a cause close to his heart.

Here, he shares what inspired the challenge, the familiar faces who joined him along the way and what it was like to complete 24 consecutive marathons.

Midway through the 2026 cricket season, I made the decision to retire from professional cricket after eight years. As I began thinking about what might come next, I knew there was one thing I wanted to do before hanging up my boots: take on a challenge for charity.

There aren’t many jobs where being fit and healthy is such an important part of your day-to-day life, and I wanted to make the most of that while I still could. Running had always been one of my strengths during fitness testing, as well as something I genuinely enjoyed outside of cricket training, so the idea of running multiple marathons over consecutive days seemed like a good place to start.

At first, I hadn’t settled on a number, but I knew I wanted it to be something that would raise a few eyebrows. Fundraising is incredibly difficult at the moment, and with people constantly pushing the boundaries of endurance challenges, I knew I’d have to come up with something pretty ambitious.

During my time at Middlesex, I’d been introduced to The Brompton Fountain through my teammate Mark Stoneman, whose son was born with congenital heart disease. The charity provides vital support to children and families facing some of the most frightening and uncertain moments of their lives, offering help beyond the clinical care provided by the NHS. Around 24 children under the age of one undergo open-heart surgery for congenital heart disease in the UK every week. That figure stayed with me and ultimately gave me my challenge: 24 marathons in 24 days, all around Battersea Park.

Every day was filmed, and I was fortunate to have some brilliant people join me along the way. International rugby players Fin Baxter (Hl 20), George Furbank and Ben Earl all came along, as did fellow cricketers Steven Finn, Zak Crawley and Mark Stoneman.

I was also joined by Spencer Matthews, McFly drummer Harry Judd and Jordan Adams, who sadly didn’t bring the fridge from his incredible London Marathon effort! Having so many people give up their time to run alongside me, offer encouragement and help raise awareness made a huge difference, particularly as the miles began to add up.

Looking back, I feel incredibly lucky to have made it through all 24 marathons without injury, and even luckier to have had so many great people supporting me and such a worthwhile cause.

In all honesty, I’m not sure how much of the experience I remember vividly. After 24 days of running, it all became a bit of a blur! But it’s certainly something I’ll never forget, and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who helped make it possible. One thing is certain, though: I haven’t been back to Battersea Park since!

Jack is continuing to raise money for The Brompton Fountain. Click here to find out more and support Jack.