Former reality TV personality Spencer Matthews has completed 30 marathons in 30 consecutive days completely on sand – breaking a new Guinness World Record and raising more than £350,000 for charity.
The former Made In Chelsea star, 36, has added endurance athlete to his list of career ventures since first coming into the public eye in 2011.
The father-of-three spoke to Sky News after successfully running across 1,266km through the Jordanian Desert in scorching temperatures.
He started near Wadi Rum on the edge of the Arabian Desert and finished the final 26.2 mile leg on Tuesday morning near the Dead Sea.
Throughout the challenge, he raised money for Global’s Make Some Noise charity, which funds grassroots projects and works with small charities across the UK.
Matthews said he never wanted to stop his running because the people supported by the charities he was running for “absolutely don’t deserve to be in the pain that they’re in”.
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“In many cases the pain that they’re in is permanent – whereas I’m here for 30 days. Despite them being quite difficult, I will go back to my life when this is over and some of them don’t get the chance to do that”, he said.
“So that really does help when times are tough because no tough time that I’m having will ever be as tough as what these people are going through.”
To meet the world record criteria, Matthews had to stay on sand and only sand – a layer of sand over a field of grass would not qualify, for example – and all marathon runs had to be finished within six hours.
‘Positive experience in my life’
One unexpected difficulty during the 30-day stint in sandy Jordan was the quality of camp that he would turn up to each evening.
He has only been getting between three to five hours of sleep each night due to the heat.
“[It’s] fly-infested, boiling hot, no air conditioning, sleeping on the same mat, no bedsheets, no toilets, no running water,” he said.
“Again this situation is nowhere near as bad as the situation of those we’re raising money for, so I’m not looking to turn what has been a positive experience in my life, this challenge, into something negative.
“But you asked for the lows, and it’s quite difficult to get comfortable in camp. When you’ve ran a marathon that morning, all you’re really looking for is comfort.”
‘If I carried on my drinking habits, I would die’
Matthews, who before his TV career was a city trader in London, has made a huge personal and physical transformation after years of abusing alcohol.
He admitted he “could have died” at the height of his drinking.
“I actually find it really annoying when people say anything is possible. But this is sort of proof that that is the case”, Matthews said.
“I feel it’s proving a point that even if you’re going through a very difficult time, with just a little bit of discipline and some action, you can change things about your life that really matter.
“I was told by a therapist that if I carried on the way that I was drinking I would die.”
After four years of complete abstinence, Matthews was able to re-address his feelings and behaviours towards alcohol, and now he drinks on occasion – but admits he rarely feels the want to do so.
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Thinking about post-desert life, the former reality TV star is most looking forward to reuniting with his Irish presenter wife Vogue Williams and their three children.
Beyond that, Matthews says he is excited to get home to tackle the next challenges, including getting more young people into running and doing what he can to encourage others to get to a better stage in their life.
“I think there’s a lot more good we can do outside this fundraise”, he says, smiling.