Skip to main content
U.K. Edition
Thursday, 28 March 2024

Fitness enthusiast has scaled the height of Snowdon during lockdown

Credit: SWNS STUDIO
Duration: 00:43s 0 shares 1 views

Fitness enthusiast has scaled the height of Snowdon during lockdown
Fitness enthusiast has scaled the height of Snowdon during lockdown

A fitness enthusiast has scaled the height of Snowdon during the coronavirus lockdown - by climbing up and down a step in his back garden more than 7,000 times.Long-distance runner and mountain climber Rory Southworth, 27, ran 1,085m on his 15cm bottom step by climbing on and off the step non-stop for than four hours.The business development officer decided to get creative with his fitness in his back yard during the coronavirus outbreak.Rory set himself a challenge to keep active despite not being able to leave the grounds of his house under the government's strict lockdown rules.On Sunday (22 March), he ran 1,345m on the seven steps in his garden that lead up to his back door in under two hours - the equivalent of climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland. His back steps are 1.6m high, so Rory ran up and down the steps 841 times.And on Monday (23 March), he used just the bottom step, making sure he got both feet on and off 7,223 times to run the equivalent of the height on Mount Snowdon in Wales.He said: "I normally run and swim every week quite a lot."There is a hill just behind my garden, I get out on the trails every day almost."I just felt like there's no excuse to not go out and exercise with what we've got available to us."On Saturday I ran 29 times up the hill outside my garden to run the height of Scaffell Pike."On Sunday, I ran up and down the stairs 841 times to reach the height of Ben Nevis and on Monday I ran just the bottom step 7,223 times - both feet and both feet off."Rory, who lives in Lancaster with his girlfriend Bee James, 28, has kept active every day during the lockdown, despite working from home.He starts work at 9am but wakes up at around 5 or 6am to complete his challenges to set him up for the rest of the day.He completed a half marathon inside the house by running the 8.25m from his front door to his back door 2,546 times  - smashing 21km before breakfast.And he even managed to take part in his routine Wednesday swim - by having a dip in cold water in his wheelie bin for 15 minutes.Rory said: "I swim every Wednesday, I am an open water swimmer."So I cleaned out my wheelie bin and filled it with cold water and climbed in."If you don't regularly swim, you lose the ability to cope with the temperature of the water in the open water."Tap water is around eight degrees, which is warmer than what I swim, but it is still cold and will help me keep up my cold water tolerance as part of my training."Rory has been documenting his brilliant keep-fit methods on his social media to inspire others - and has had an overwhelming response from his 11,000 Instagram followers.He added: "I was going to keep active in my own way anyway."But I wanted to combat all the negativity on social media and wanted to get people involved."I tried to use my influence on social media to spread a positive message."I do a lot of stuff after work, that's my key message - just make time for it."This week I wanted people to know they can do the same height as hills and mountains just on their step."The real message is to make positive action, think outside the box and be creative with you workout and what you can do."I want people to do sport in whatever way they can and realise what they've got in their house and garden to make use of."I've had a great response and people have been doing their own challenges and tagging me in their posts."It's just a great way of keeping fit and not letting anything stop you."He has even documented his girlfriend Bee's response to some of his challenge - with one hilarious picture showing her looking less than impressed as he is running around the house while she drinks her morning coffee.Rory added: "I get up at 5 or 6am to do it before starting work."I don't always tell her what I'm going to be doing, just that I'm going out for some exercise."Then four hours later she comes down and sees me running up and down the stairs."It's a good insight into what it is like living with a house-bound athlete."

A fitness enthusiast has scaled the height of Snowdon during the coronavirus lockdown - by climbing up and down a step in his back garden more than 7,000 times.Long-distance runner and mountain climber Rory Southworth, 27, ran 1,085m on his 15cm bottom step by climbing on and off the step non-stop for than four hours.The business development officer decided to get creative with his fitness in his back yard during the coronavirus outbreak.Rory set himself a challenge to keep active despite not being able to leave the grounds of his house under the government's strict lockdown rules.On Sunday (22 March), he ran 1,345m on the seven steps in his garden that lead up to his back door in under two hours - the equivalent of climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland.

His back steps are 1.6m high, so Rory ran up and down the steps 841 times.And on Monday (23 March), he used just the bottom step, making sure he got both feet on and off 7,223 times to run the equivalent of the height on Mount Snowdon in Wales.He said: "I normally run and swim every week quite a lot."There is a hill just behind my garden, I get out on the trails every day almost."I just felt like there's no excuse to not go out and exercise with what we've got available to us."On Saturday I ran 29 times up the hill outside my garden to run the height of Scaffell Pike."On Sunday, I ran up and down the stairs 841 times to reach the height of Ben Nevis and on Monday I ran just the bottom step 7,223 times - both feet and both feet off."Rory, who lives in Lancaster with his girlfriend Bee James, 28, has kept active every day during the lockdown, despite working from home.He starts work at 9am but wakes up at around 5 or 6am to complete his challenges to set him up for the rest of the day.He completed a half marathon inside the house by running the 8.25m from his front door to his back door 2,546 times  - smashing 21km before breakfast.And he even managed to take part in his routine Wednesday swim - by having a dip in cold water in his wheelie bin for 15 minutes.Rory said: "I swim every Wednesday, I am an open water swimmer."So I cleaned out my wheelie bin and filled it with cold water and climbed in."If you don't regularly swim, you lose the ability to cope with the temperature of the water in the open water."Tap water is around eight degrees, which is warmer than what I swim, but it is still cold and will help me keep up my cold water tolerance as part of my training."Rory has been documenting his brilliant keep-fit methods on his social media to inspire others - and has had an overwhelming response from his 11,000 Instagram followers.He added: "I was going to keep active in my own way anyway."But I wanted to combat all the negativity on social media and wanted to get people involved."I tried to use my influence on social media to spread a positive message."I do a lot of stuff after work, that's my key message - just make time for it."This week I wanted people to know they can do the same height as hills and mountains just on their step."The real message is to make positive action, think outside the box and be creative with you workout and what you can do."I want people to do sport in whatever way they can and realise what they've got in their house and garden to make use of."I've had a great response and people have been doing their own challenges and tagging me in their posts."It's just a great way of keeping fit and not letting anything stop you."He has even documented his girlfriend Bee's response to some of his challenge - with one hilarious picture showing her looking less than impressed as he is running around the house while she drinks her morning coffee.Rory added: "I get up at 5 or 6am to do it before starting work."I don't always tell her what I'm going to be doing, just that I'm going out for some exercise."Then four hours later she comes down and sees me running up and down the stairs."It's a good insight into what it is like living with a house-bound athlete."

You might like