Matthew Hollingham, the 25-year-old university student who recently completed a 61-day triathlon from the Arctic to Africa, is planning his next fundraising challenge: running around the M25. The 114-mile route will follow the London orbital motorway via back roads and underpasses, as pedestrians are banned from the motorway itself.
Fundraising in Memory of Fiancée
Hollingham is raising funds for children's charities in memory of his fiancée, Lovisa Arnesson-Cronhamre, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident in September 2023 while attending Pennsylvania State University. He said: "I’ve long held the view that to fundraise with an endurance event - to capture attention for a good cause - you have to do something sufficiently stupid sounding - and what’s more moronic than running the M25?"
He acknowledged the difficulty: "Obviously I can’t run on the actual London Orbital as it is illegal and would probably infuriate several thousand commuters. But there exists a network of side roads and footpaths running parallel - in between and all around in a convoluted maze - that I hope to circumnavigate the M25 on, raising as much money as possible for children’s charities."
Previous Achievement
Last week, the Mirror reported that Hollingham, from Wheathampstead, Herts, swam through icy water, ran 37 marathons, and cycled 1,865 miles through eight countries, raising £30,000 for children's charities. Quadruple World Ironman champion Chrissie Wellington called it "A mind bendingly epic feat."
Hollingham said: "I did it all for Lovisa, and I would do it again to see her one more time. She is, and will always be, my fiancée." He chose children's charities because "Lovisa always wanted to be a mother, and so for me, it’s giving back to the children she never had. She left a void of kindness in the world, and so I am doing my best to fill it."
Next Challenge
He admitted the decision to keep the next challenge on 'home tarmac' was made with family in mind, as the last trek was "more of a strain on them than it was on me." He added: "I know this isn’t what Margaret Thatcher envisioned when she opened the M25 in 1986, and I have no idea how I am going to cross the Thames at Dartford, but I welcome any advice I can get for this event. It’s know it’s going to be impossibly difficult, but I tend to finish these sort of things, especially with Lovisa in mind."
