Rich Lucas, personal trainer and founder of local gym Sapien Training will be taking on the National Three Peaks Challenge with a unique twist – completing the entire challenge barefoot to raise money for the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) Association. The challenge involves climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, the three highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales, within 24 hours. “I’m a big advocate of barefoot science; as a PT and gym owner, I believe that healthy foot and ankle movement facilitates healthy whole-body movement. I also spend an unreasonable amount of time in tiny climbing shoes or mountain boots with crampons, so going barefoot felt like a nice change!”

Rich is undertaking the challenge in honour of his mum, Jane, who was diagnosed with PSP in 2021. PSP is a rare neurological condition that affects balance, movement, vision, speech and swallowing. Despite its devastating impact on families, it remains underfunded and frequently misdiagnosed.

Rich will be accompanied by his fiancé Rosie, who will be doing the driving portion of the mission, and together hope to raise awareness of PSP while fundraising for the PSP Association, which provides support services, information and research funding for those affected by the condition.

“The biggest challenge is undoubtedly the logistics and travel on the day; last week I did Snowdon at 5am just to get a parking space and a clear uninterrupted run to the top.

I got a lot of donations from people on the mountain and to save time I dish out poker chips with a QR code to the donation page!”

Please support Rich using this QR code.