Preston barefoot fell runner Matthew Disney nominated for brave Briton award

Matthew Disney, who took on a 66-mile course with a climb of 26,900ft, has reached the final four of the Against All Odds category in global-hearing specialist Amplifon’s search for the ‘Best of British’ heroes.

He will now be invited to the virtual awards presentation on Tuesday, October 11. The event will be hosted by BBC1 TV Breakfast and Radio 5 Live presenter Rachel Burden. Falklands War hero Simon Weston will be guest of honour.

Matthew, a former Royal Marine who served in Afghanistan, is the first person to complete the notoriously difficult trail – known as the Bob Graham Round – in bare feet.

He started off from Keswick, heading up Skiddaw the sixth, highest mountain in England, before continuing on to Helvellyn, Scafell Pike and back to Keswick, climbing all the fells in between.

The circuit is considered the ultimate challenge for fell runners – and that’s when wearing hiking boots!

Matthew, who recently set up a dog training business called The Canine Commando Club, has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charities, including the Royal Marines Charity and Rock2Recovery, which supports former military personnel at risk of suicide.

Matthew, who, in the past has completed challenges such as climbing the highest mountains in the UK carrying a rowing machine on his shoulders and then rowing the distance on the machine, said the fell run was his hardest challenge to date.

He added: “I’ve done about 12 challenges now, most of which have never been done before, but I can say the Bob Graham was the stupidest challenge I’ve ever done with regards to pain.

“There are over 2,000 nerve receptors in your feet sending messages to your brain staying ‘stop doing that! Stop doing that!’ like a warning signal and I just had that on repeat for five days.

“The irony was that the only injuries I suffered were two puncture wounds from a thistle and in the Iast five miles I jumped over a fence too quickly and caught my arm on barbed wire. I’ve now got a good five-inch scar from my wrist from it. But my feet were fine!”

Matthew who recently set up a dog training business called The Canine Commando Club has raised thousands of pounds for charity, including the Royal Marines Charity and Rock2Recovery, which raises funds to support former military personnel at risk of suicide.

The Amplifon Awards For Brave Britons are in their seventh year and celebrate truly remarkable people and pets and the winners will be judged by a panel including Falklands War Hero Simon Weston.

The finals awards luncheon will be a virtual ceremony on Tuesday, October 11, hosted by BBC Radio 5Live Breakfast and BBC One Breakfast TV presenter Rachel Burden.

Set up in honour of Amplifon’s founder, Second World War hero Major Charles Holland, the awards recognise courage and achievement in the categories of Against All Odds, Service To Country, Charity Champion, Active Agers, Young Hero, Hero Pet, Celebrity Hero and Coronavirus Hero.