THW are pleased to support local man Alex Staniforth, a record-breaking adventurer and mental health activist, who is
returning with another epic attempt to support mental health after the COVID-19
lockdown.
In August 2020 25 year old Alex will attempt to
run the National Three Peaks Challenge in under 9 days.
This involves climbing the UK’s three highest mountains -
Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, Snowdon – and running the entire distance between
them, over 440 miles, or approximately 17 marathons in total.
If successful, his
run will break the current record of 9 days and 11 hours.
The National Three Peaks Challenge is traditionally
completed within 24 hours using vehicle transport in between the mountains.
Alex, who is based in Kendal, will be running
an average of 48 miles (or nearly 2 marathons per day) with over 44,000ft in total
height gain (or 1.5 times of Everest).
This follows Alex’s successful Climb the UK challenge in
2017 where he became the fastest person ever to climb the UK’s highest county
peaks to raise awareness of depression and eating disorders and for which he
won the Pride of Britain Granada Reports Fundraiser of the Year.
This was just a few years after Alex experienced the two
biggest consecutive disasters in the history of Mount Everest, including the
2015 Nepal earthquake which trapped him on the mountain for 2 days.
He believes that attitudes such as ‘earning calories through
exercise’ have re-enforced an unhealthy relationship with food and exercise.
Being male, he says, made it especially difficult for Alex
to talk about and it took three years before he sought help.
By challenging himself Alex wants to challenge the stigma
of eating disorders in men and raise awareness to prevent others from
developing them.
To find out more and view his live map: www.alexstaniforth.com http://live.opentracking.co.uk/mom2020/#
To find out more about Mind Over Mountains and join their
programmes visit www.mindovermountains.org.uk
Published 24 July 2020
Previous article: Congratulations - a First Class job!
Next article: What is your excuse for NOT making a will?