MATTHEW HEARNE

Climbed the height of Mt Everest on his fire escape

Matthew Hearne’s weekends have been a bit up and down. In April, he climbed the height of Mt Everest (8,848m) in 28 hours nonstop – all on the fire escape of his London flat; that’s 55,512 steps. His high-rise activity raised £3,800 for the NHS. ‘I’m training for the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc and this is the closest I can get to climbing a mountain while living in London during these times,’ says Matthew, who runs for London’s Serpentine AC. ‘It was super-tough and very monotonous, and I lost plenty of skin from the soles of my feet. But our NHS workers must feel like they’re in an uphill struggle every day. They are on their feet for many hours and no doubt finish their shifts totally exhausted. To raise so much for them makes me feel that the challenge was all worth it.’