Hamble runner loses kit to thieves on day one of Beijing to London challenge

21 August 2026

Jack Jarvis from Hamble began his attempt to run 13,000 kilometres from Beijing to London with an immediate setback. On the first day of the challenge, thieves took £1,400 of kit from the support van in Beijing, including the solar system that powers his electrical equipment.

The former soldier set off from Tiananmen Square on 11 August. He plans to cover around 50 km every day for roughly eight months, crossing 17 countries before finishing at Trafalgar Square. The target is £1 million for brainstrust, the brain tumour charity.

The run is personal. Jarvis’s grandfather, known locally as Budgie, died from a brain tumour in 2007. The family ran The Victory Inn in Hamble for 22 years and Budgie was a familiar figure behind the bar.

Jarvis has said he wants the scale of the challenge to match the seriousness of the cause. “If I want people to donate their hard-earned cash to me, I want to do something big so they feel like they’re getting their money’s worth.”

He brings a hard-won record to the start line. In 2022 he became the first person to row solo and unsupported from mainland Europe to mainland North America, spending 111 days alone at sea.

A later team row from New York to the UK raised more than £100,000 for military mental health. In May 2023 a parachute accident left him with severe ligament damage to his left knee. Doctors warned he might never run properly again. Eighteen months of rehabilitation followed. This continuous run is the test he has chosen after that recovery.

Travelling with 19-year-old videographer Tommy Denny, Jarvis has already seen the Great Wall and passed through Inner Mongolia. He still has more than 3,700 km to cover before leaving China. Route and visa problems are currently causing more stress than the running itself, but the message home remains straightforward: “Keep the pints cold and the steak tender. I’ll be home in ten months.”

Read more about Jack’s journey on the Brainstrust website, and donate to the campaign directly at givestar.io