Freddie and Joe's 24 Hour UK 4 Peaks Challenge

On a blustery day in August 2021, Freddie John called Joe Atherley proposing something audacious and exciting: a new world first attempt. On the 8th June 2022, they successfully became the first people ever to summit Slieve Donard, Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis (collectively known as the UK 4 Peaks), all in under 24 Hours, without the use of air travel. A film crew followed their challenge to produce a mini-documentary about their attempt, called ‘4 in 24’. The documentary will be first be distributed to film festivals before being shown more widely, so stay tuned! The boys are raising money for the brilliant Motor Neurone Disease Association and Help For Heroes. 

The challenge involved over 30 miles of hill running, over 13,000 feet of vertical ascent, 559 miles on the road, and about a million of those little energy gel sachets. It was an absolutely mammoth effort from the boys, but also required a bit of luck with traffic and weather, as well as some very slick logistics.

Any donation will be massively appreciated and split between our two charities. The Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) funds research and campaigning into the currently incurable and fatal Motor Neurone Disease, which has sadly claimed two of Freddie's relatives.  The disease sees sufferers gradually losing the ability to use their muscles over a period of many years, due to the slow deterioration of nerve cells, and the cause of the disease is unknown. The fantastic biomedical research funding and patient care provided by the MNDA is crucial to improve the outlook for the 1 in 300 people who suffer from this terrible disease.

Help for Heroes was chosen by Joe in light of all the fantastic work they do for veterans. Support is owed to those who have suffered physical and mental injury in the Armed Forces. Donations in the past have gone toward state-of-the-art facilities, such as adapted gyms and pools designed to rehabilitate those physically injured, and mental health provision for those suffering from PTSD.

Freddie and Joe would like to give a massive thanks to David from London Camper Rentals for providing them with the trusty and comfortable van which carried them to success! Jimmy’s Iced Coffee and Aquapac also sent some gear to help out, so thanks to them as well. 

Freddie and Joe met at the University of Exeter, bonded over a shared love of skiing, and have scaled several mountains (and the Arabic Centre on the Exeter campus...) in training for the big day. They have taken part in plenty of antics in the mountains, but this was their greatest yet. 

Please feel free to donate to support the boys and these two causes which are very close to their hearts. 





(We had to put Joe as our beneficiary as this is the only way we can split donations between the two charities as gofundme doesn't offer built-in donation splitting.)