Marathon for a Drug-Free UK Supported by Church of Scientology

The Marathon for a Drug-Free UK completed a grueling 26-day, 965 km (600 mile) race from the tip of England to Edinburgh, Scotland, to promote drug-free living in the United Kingdom.

A team of runners spent the better part of May 2013 on a 965 km (600 mile) run to promote drug-free living—the Marathon for a Drug-Free UK.

The initiative was held under the banner of the Truth About Drugs, a program supported by the Church of Scientology that raises awareness of drugs and their effects.

The Brighton-to-Edinburgh run was the equivalent a “marathon squared”—an average of 37 km (26 miles) a day for 26 days.

The marathon began at the Brighton coast on April 26—a typical windy and rainy spring day. The local mayor and a councilor were the first to sign the runners’ drug-free pledge. The Jive Aces, Britain’s own number one jive and swing band, gave the team a rousing send-off.

 

First stop, the village of North Chailey, 16 km (10 miles) north, for the first of dozens of drug education lectures held at local schools along the way.

The marathon team ran through Croydon, Brixton, Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Crewe, Chester, Birkenhead and Liverpool, crossed the border to Scotland at Jedburgh and arrived at the finishing line at Edinburgh Castle on May 22.

They reached some 2,800 youth with their drug-free message and distributed more than 70,000 copies of the drug education booklet The Truth About Drugs.

The Church of Scientology has published a brochure, Scientology: How We Help—The Truth About Drugs, Creating a Drug-Free World, to meet requests for more information about the drug education and prevention initiative it supports. To learn more or read a copy of the brochure, visit the Scientology website.

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Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “The planet has hit a barrier which prevents any widespread social progress—drugs and other biochemical substances. These can put people into a condition which not only prohibits and destroys physical health but which can prevent any stable advancement in mental or spiritual well-being.”

The Church of Scientology supports the Truth About Drugs, one of the world’s largest nongovernmental drug education and prevention campaigns. It has been conclusively proven that when young people are provided with the truth about drugs—factual information on what drugs are and what they do—usage rates drop commensurately.