Leeds man's weighty charity challenge on the Yorkshire Three Peaks

Greg Saunders and friends pictured during the Yorkshire Three Peaks charity challenge.

But as if the 24-mile route up and down the Pennine range wasn’t enough of an ordeal, 30-year old Greg Saunders decided to do it with a whopping 100lb (45kg) weight on his back.

Tgoether with a few friends, Greg finished the challenge for charity in 13.5 hours.

Speaking to the YEP, Greg said he was “really chuffed” with how the walk went.

Greg, who lives near the Royal Armouries, decided to complete the weighty challenge just two weeks beforehand.

A personal trainer who had already completed the route before, he felt people would not sponsor him if he walked it “normally”.

Greg said: “A few people said I couldn’t do it, which motivated me more. I knew it was going to be tough, and it lived up to it!”

The aim was to raise money for Cancer Research UK, in support of Greg’s friend Gareth Dunn, who has cancer himself and is trying to raise £100,000 for the cause.

By completing the challenge, Greg managed to raise £2,000, a total he hopes will go up.

In total, Gareth and his friends and family have raised more than £35,000 through a series of impressive feats involving walking, running, swimming and cycling across the world.

Next year, Greg and Gareth will run the Paris Marathon together, and Greg is also planning his own challenge, which might just involve more weights. Gareth also plans to cycle to Istanbul and write a novel to raise money for the charity.

Donate at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chemotionally-unstable

BACKGROUND

Around the time he met Greg, Gareth found out he had a malignant tumour in his foot.

After his foot was amputated, Gareth sailed through rehabilitation, and was soon working in a new job and travelling the world.

Sporty Gareth also gained a place on the Paralympics GB squad, for cycling, paracanoe and athletics.

But during a regular check up some years later, Gareth found out he had untreatable tumours on his lungs.

Now, the 26-year old has set himself the challenge of raising £100,000 for Cancer Research UK.

You can keep up with Gareth on his blog: www.chemotionally-unstable.com