Made in Chelsea star brings his record breaking 76 marathons in 76 days attempt to Peterborough

Ultra-athlete, campaigner and Made in Chelsea TV star Joshua Patterson is currently embarking on his toughest challenge yet.

Josh is running 76 marathons, in 76 cities, in 76 days, with the aim of raising £1 million for suicide prevention charity, Samaritans.

Already the holder of two World Record titles, Josh’s journey will be covering all cities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in a bid to raise awareness about mental health and help save lives.

Having battled with mental health since his teenage years, and with suicide being the leading cause of death for men under the age of 50, Josh has launched Run 4 1 Million to demonstrate that anything is possible if you set your mind and body to it.

Josh will be running through Peterborough for what will be his 42nd marathon on Sunday (April 9).

He will arrive having completed marathons in Lincoln, Norwich, Ely and Cambridge in the days previous and will then be heading off to Leicester before finishing on Westminster on Saturday May 13.

Josh aims to raise £1 million for Samaritans, which could help answer an incredible 200,000 calls for help as well as raising awareness and destigmatising mental health by encouraging people to talk about how they are feeling.

With one in three adults in the UK having struggled with mental health, Samaritans is the leading charity helping to prevent suicide across the UK and Ireland. Founded in 1953 by Chad Varah, Samaritans now has over 200 branches and around 22,000 volunteers.

Responding to around 10,000 calls per day (that’s one call every 10 seconds), the charity is available 24 hours of the

day, 365 days a year.

Josh said: “Having struggled with mental health myself to the point I thought about ending my life, I was fortunate enough to get support from several incredible professionals, my family, and friends. I’m very aware though, not everyone is as lucky.

“My life has changed immeasurably since that moment and I’m now in a place where I want to show others they are not alone, and things can and will get better.

Through testing my own limits with endurance sport, I have built strength, resilience, and best of all, a community I love. Setting myself near impossible challenges has been a vital tool to attract attention and to shine a light on mental health.

"Whether you are personally struggling or have been impacted by mental health through a loved one, I hope that this mammoth challenge will inspire people to reach out, speak out, and know they are not alone.

“So come and join me in one of the cities for a run or to say hey and if I don’t see you in person, all I ask is for you to spread the word about the challenge. Together let’s make all of these marathons a World Record and get more people exercising while talking about how they are genuinely feeling.”

To learn more about Josh and his ‘Run 4 1 Million challenge’ visit https://www.joshpatterson.uk/.