Explorer completes seven marathons on seven continents in honour of his Yorkshire grandfather

The inspiration behind the challenge was Mr Alexander’s grandfather, Captain Rick Taylor, who served in the British Army for 38 years and died in 2019 with dementia. He lived in a care home in Sheffield.

Mr Alexander, 24, who is based in London, said: “At his funeral, when I was 19, I had the huge privilege of delivering the eulogy … and there I made a promise to support this fight against dementia until the day we find a cure.

"I have a great fondness for Yorkshire in general and Sheffield in particular.”

While running the marathons he carried a letter calling for the Government to invest £16m in improving dementia diagnostics.

“It’s a long shot, but I think it’s possible,” he said.

“The ultimate reason I ran seven marathons across seven continents is because this is a global challenge for a global cause and I wanted to highlight that dementia is in the most remote corners of all of the world.

“Now I’ve returned home because it’s time that the UK takes a forefront in helping to fight for a cure and proper diagnosis.” He added that running with the letter made it feel as though “my grandad’s with me every step of this project”.

“That promise I made to him when I was 19 changed my life because my whole focus shifted.

“This project has been the greatest journey of my life really.

“When the wind did hit us and we turned one corner and weren’t protected from the mountains, I felt a burning sensation,” he said.

“The snow picked up to a point where it was almost like sand and was so painful, and when it hit the right side of my body it burned and I thought my internal organs may be bleeding.

“It was brutal, so crossing that finishing line was a big relief.”

He added that the scenery was “incredible”. He has raised close to £5,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK, which he said has been “superb”.

He has also set up a digital petition, for which he hopes to get 10,000 signatures, to put further pressure on the Government to invest more money in dementia diagnostics.

He hopes to deliver the letter in person to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in January, having received a letter of acknowledgment from his office a few days ago.

More information about Mr Alexander’s fundraising page can be found at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/runningthesevencontinents?.

Mr Alexander’s petition can be found at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/651956.