Mental health campaigner aims to break Three Peaks record by running 440 miles in nine days
An adventurer and mental health activist is about to embark on a record-breaking attempt to scale the three Peaks of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon and run more than four hundred miles between them.
Alex Staniforth, who lives in Kendal, is doing it in aid of his new charity "Mind over Mountains" and to raise awareness of mental health problems during lockdown.
Uphill challenges are nothing new to him. For years he's battled mental health issues and found relief in pushing himself to new heights in the mountains. Now lockdown has spurred him to tackle one of his biggest challenges so far.
"I'll be trying to run the national three peaks which involves Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon but normally that's done with a car in 24 hours," he says. "I'll be trying to run the entire distance.
"We've all had to face a recent challenge that we didn't choose and for me it's the outdoors and the outdoor goals that have given me that way to fight back and overcome my personal challenges and mental health challenges as well."
He will begin at Ben Nevis on the 7th of August and then run all the way to Cumbria to scale Scafell Pike. After that he'll finish his challenge at Snowdon in north Wales.
To break the record Alex will have to complete the run in less than nine days and 11 hours. It's a journey of 440 miles and he'll be running the equivalent of almost two marathons every day.
Video report by Tim Backshall.
Alex has suffered with depression, anxiety and the eating disorder bulimia for several years. He said: "For me it all started when I had epilepsy when I was nine years old which led to anxiety and panic attacks which have stayed with me for the rest of my life.
"You just get better at managing these things but then when I was 16 and I found the outdoors it was an injury that started my depression and the eating disorder, Bulimia and as a young male there was so little understanding and so little help available."
He's now set up his own charity called "Mind over Mountains". His challenges so far have led to some dramatic moments. He was on Mount Everest when an earthquake killed more than 20 people five years ago.
His fundraising for mental health causes led to him being named a regional winner in the Pride of Britain awards in 2017. Now the challenge of lockdown for all of us is very much in his mind.
Alex said: "Recently we've been facing an unclimbed mountain as a nation so I want to take on a massive challenge to bring people back together through the power of adventure, through the power of the outdoors and just inspire people that we can't get back the time we've lost in lockdown but what matters now is how we move forwards."
He has already had many mountains to climb in his life. He's hoping that taking on this challenge will help others to face theirs.