Bristol adventurer runs coast-to-coast across India in seven days for mental health charities
Will sat down with ITV News West Country to share his story.
An adventurer from Bristol has run across India in seven days to raise money for mental health and sports charities.
Will Robinson, from Redland, made the journey from Chennai, on the East coast, to Mangalore – a distance of more than 700km.
Will said he did it to “celebrate India, and celebrate the running community there”.
It follows on from a previous challenge last year, which saw Will run across Ireland.
Comparing the two, he said: “Very different, but equally as flat, and I really enjoyed running from A to B, from point to point, from coast to coast.
“I simply got back to Bristol a week or so later and jumped onto Google Maps and there it was staring straight at me.”
The big difference was, of course, the climate.
Will said: “The heat was the biggest shock, and I only had a day to acclimatise, so we went straight into 45 degrees, busy cities, honking horns, cows in the middle of the road.
“It was very, very different to Bristol.”
As well as running a lot to prepare, Will spent a lot of time in saunas to get ready for the heat.
He said: “I just built up my acclimatisation and just got used to sitting in that heat.”
Will has raised thousands of pounds for charity - The Running Charity, Mineover Mountains, and Bengaroo-based Sports Foundation.
He said: “That is my passion now - to get people active.
“All three charities facilitate young individuals or people who don't have access to getting active and allows them to start running, start walking, start cycling, whatever it is, and just feel the benefits, because running isn't just running.
“It allows you to break down barriers, allows you to work towards a goal, it welcomes you into a massive community.”
He said he was inspired to support these causes after getting into running at the age of 14, when his father took him for a run in Dorset and the pair ran a half marathon.
He said: “It was the first time where something clicked and something came easy to me, so I obviously gravitated towards it.
“I just fell in love with it and I have felt the power of it ever since.”