• Participants challenged to buddy up with a friend or colleague and do 26 minutes of exercise every day from 1st to 26th May
• Mayathon’s buddy system helps people overcome key barriers to exercise and provides a mutual support throughout the challenge
• Mayathon is a social enterprise committed to reinvesting profits to help the nation feel healthier and happier

The mayathon challenge is to buddy up with a friend or colleague and complete 26 minutes of exercise each day for the first 26 days of May. The name takes its inspiration from the 26 miles of a marathon and recognises the fact that 26 minutes of exercise each day will help mayathoners to exceed the 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week recommended by the World Health Organisation.

The inaugural Mayathon, which is free for the general public, starts on Friday 1 May 2020. The challenge will followed on a free app where mayathoners will record their activity, their mood and help them to support their buddy. The initiative was created in response to the public health crisis that is facing Britain. Nearly two thirds of UK adults are overweight or obese, while one in six Britons report experiencing a common mental health problem like anxiety or depression in any given week.