Joshua Patterson: Made In Chelsea star is running 76 marathons in hopes of raising £1 million for Samaritans

Made In Chelsea star and ultra marathon runner, Josh Patterson, has just completed his 24th consecutive marathon as part of his 76 day Run41Million challenge, with the aim to raise a mammoth £1 million for Samaritans.

The reality star, 33, is currently running 76 marathons, in 76 cities, in 76 days to support Samaritans. He aims to raise £1 million for the suicide prevention charity and has long been an ambassador for promoting the importance of aiding people who suffer from mental health problems.

On day 24 Josh shared a post describing his experience after taking on such a difficult challenge, saying: “Today as I was nearing the end of marathon 24, my mum surprised me. I ran over and grabbed her hand, so that we could cross the finish line together”.

He described the moment as something he will cherish forever and stated: “Family is everything, and I’ve missed mine a huge amount. Seeing her today came at the right time as we were going into the next stage of this challenge”.

Josh, who shares his daughter India with ex-girlfriend Binky Felstead, has always been vocal about his personal mental health issues.

He told The Daily Record that: "Having struggled with mental health myself to the point I thought about ending my life, I was fortunate enough to get support from several incredible professionals, my family and my friends. I’m very aware though, not everyone is as lucky”.

By volunteering this information and completing this challenge he is sending out a message to those who are struggling alone. Suicide is the leading cause of death for men and if Josh raises £1 million it would allow the the Samaritans to fund 200,000 life saving phone calls.

Josh has been promoting his mission to change how society perceives mental illness and hopes to inspire people to find their strength so that they can achieve the impossible. By training hard, achieving his goals and making great progress, Josh realised that he “does not struggle with mental health but rather uses it as his power”.

Whilst his GCSE results meant that he could not fulfil his lifelong dream of joining the Marines, his participation in Bear Grylls Survival Race inspired him to become a mental health ambassador and push himself to the extreme.

He began his mission, after leaving Made in Chelsea, by applying for a White Collar Boxing Match so that he could raise money for his friend’s father who was in need of medication. The physical training was hard but the mental issues he was experiencing were worse. With negative comments on social media about his actions and relationship, Josh decided to battle on.

According to his website he “soon came to realise that having a focus and discipline enables you to regain that feeling of power, and turn your struggles into strength”.

Josh is already the holder of two world record titles. He was the first person to run a marathon in all four countries in the UK in 24 hours. He was also the first able-bodied person to travel from John O’Groats to Lands’ End using a wheelchair in just 19 days. His reason for doing this was because a close friend, Ben Taysley, had become paralysed from the waist down after a horrific motorbike accident in 2017.

Fans on Instagram have been supporting Josh as he takes on this new challenge.

One said: “Such an amazing thing you are doing, you have now inspired me. I have mental health issues and today I went for my first run in about 3 years”.

Another posted: “ 👏👏We Are all proud of you my dear friend . You are a pillar of doing what is right”.

As Josh is completing this challenge, we will update you on his progress