A swimming pool lifeguard from North Wales has raised more than £1,000 for charity by completing a month of inventive 5k challenges.
Personal Journey to Fitness
Billy Patterson, 20, began running to improve his fitness and mental health after finding himself struggling in a dark place. "I was in a bad place mentally, but I got my life back together and started running and posting videos about it. This gave me extra motivation to do better," he said.
As his health started to improve, Billy decided to use his fitness journey to help other people. "Since I enjoy running and was already posting about it, I figured I might as well raise money for charity at the same time," he added.
Creative 5K Challenges
Billy decided to do a 5K every day for 31 days and put a twist on it. This included running down the steepest street in Wales and jogging through supermarket aisles. He explained: "Some of the runs were a little crazy. I’ve done one in a bath, and another where I ran around a lamp post blindfolded."
For one of his daily runs, the former Coleg Llandrillo student returned to his old campus at Rhos-on-Sea to jog around a table tennis match and a classroom tutorial. Supportive staff and students lined up to applaud him as he completed his laps around the sports pitch.
Intense Training and Success
Billy took on an intense training schedule of gym sessions and sprints to prepare himself for the gruelling month. "I trained my socks off," he said. “I was using gym sessions, runs and sprints to get myself mentally and physically healthy. Even so, waking up and recovering every day was tough."
After completing 31 runs and 93 miles, Billy smashed his target and raised £1,200 for Children with Cancer UK – and now has more challenges in his sights. "I have a couple of things planned, but I'm keeping them to myself for now. I have some big ideas in mind," he said. There’s still time to support Billy’s 5K challenge via his Just Giving page.
