Matthew McCrudden, an HGV technician based at Abbey’s Middlewich depot has completed the Three Peaks Challenge in a time of 23 hours and six minutes.
Matthew was part of a team of eight who took on the challenge of climbing Britain’s highest peaks in 24 hours, a total of 26 miles and 3,407 metres of climbing.
Matthew took on the challenge to raise money for stroke charity A Stroke of Luck, a charity offering advice and access to exercise-based stroke recovery. They provide stroke survivors with the opportunity to connect with fitness professionals’ services to aid in recovery and rehabilitation.
Starting the challenge at 8am on Saturday 18th July, the team tackled Ben Nevis first, the tallest of the three peaks, in a time of just over five hours. With no time to enjoy the views, the team were immediately on the road heading south on their way to Scafell Pike, which they started climbing at around 8pm meaning they would be descending in the dark.
Matthew still smiling early on in the challenge.
Not helped by the weather which included torrential rain and high winds the second mountain was completed by 11:30pm.
With the end in sight, a very sleep deprived team headed for North Wales to take on Snowdon. They arrived at 3am, reached the summit at 5:30am and completed their amazing challenge just after 7am in a total time of 23 hours and six minutes.
After successfully completing the Three Peaks Challenge Matthew said: “The climb was incredibly tough at times, but we were motivated by knowing the donations were rolling in and we were all making a difference to each of the charities we were supporting.
“We were cold, wet and incredibly tired but we supported each other throughout. When the van doors opened at the start of another climb and we had to pull our cold wet boots back on, we just remembered why we were doing the challenge and how the money we were raising would help.
“I’m very grateful to the fantastic team who climbed with me and to everyone who has donated to help support the amazing work A Stoke of Luck are doing to help stroke survivors on their road to recovery.”