The current lockdown situation stopped many runners doing the London Marathon on the weekend but one runner, who was supposed to be doing a 'Ultramarathon,' recreated his 52 km run using his garden and a ladder.
Amateur runner Tim Knott had set himself 12 challenges to do in 2020, with ultramarathons, ironman 70.3s and endurance obstacle courses all on his list, to raise money, via his GoFundMe, for mental health organisations Mind and ELECT.
After completing the Gloucester Marathon in January and the St Peter's Way Ultramarathon, over 41 miles, in February, Tim's efforts would have been stopped in their tracks by the Coronavirus lockdown.
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However in March he swapped a Triathlon for a 120 km cycle in 1 km laps around his block and on Sunday changed the 51.2 km Offas Dyke Sea 2 Summit Ultramarathon into a run in his garden and, in order to replicate the climb in the ultramarathon the Londoner also did 2142 accents of a 1 metre ladder.
The 25-year-old took 11 hours to complete his challenge, which is four hours longer than he would have been hoping to do the original ultramarathon and spent Monday recovering with tired legs.
Talking to SPORTbible about the challenges Tim explained that the challenges weren't just specifically about raising money but about how exercise and setting aims helped him with his mental health, "I try and do a challenge each year to raise money for charity, give myself something to aim for and push myself.
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"2020 seemed like a year to really go for it after a very difficult 2019.
"In my head, I thought it's got to be big and ridiculous to get people talking and hopefully motivate them to do something themselves. When I've been low, three things above anything else kept me going, exercising, spending time outdoors and having something to aim for."
The Leyton Orient fan had words of encouragement for everyone else too, whether their challenge is something physical, another goal or just if it's opening up about their problems, "If I can do it, then everyone can come through their battles and take on something incredible to inspire others.
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"That's what the real aim is, not just to raise funds, but to get as many people involved as possible and encourage them to take action. Whether that's doing their own challenges publicly, taking on a personal battle, immersing themselves in something creative or a career goal, opening up to someone to stop the dangerous habit of keeping things bottled up inside them or just asking those around them if everything is okay - whatever it might be, there's so much you can do to help yourself and others."
So far Tim has raised over £1,000 for his two charities and is hoping to get to £5,000. As well as sponsoring him for doing the challenges people can also pay to pick songs, albums and podcasts for him to listen to along the way, which led him to tears when fatigue and his friend's daughter's choice of 'Let It Go' combined towards the end of February's ultramarathon and gave him 'an appreciation of the support of my friends.'
Mind, who have been visible on the back of all Football League clubs' shirts this season, offer advice and support for people experiencing mental health problems and ELECT are a counselling service that help people battle their demons.
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All of the money raised is going directly to the charities with Tim self-funding all the entry fees and travel to the events.
His May event was meant to be the Marlow Classic Half Ironman but it's been cancelled and he is yet to decide what the replacement will be.
You can find more information about Tim's 12 Months 12 Challenges on his Gofundme page.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Mental Health
