Made In Chelsea's Josh Patterson completes 76 marathons in 76 days (2024)

Joshua Patterson looked elated as he finished his 76th marathon in 76 days outside Buckingham Palace in London on Saturday.

The former Made In Chelsea star, 33, known as JP, had hundreds of supporters who came out to see him complete the astounding feat.

He marked the end of the race by touching the main gate at Buckingham Palace after previously telling MailOnlinehe turned his life around from the brink of 'torturous' mental illness to take on the gruelling challenge.

Josh, who took up running just three years ago, was aiming to raise £1million for the suicide prevention charity Samaritans, and had collected over £246,806 at the time of writing, putting him nearly a quarter of the way towards his goal.

In a video shared on his Instagram Stories ahead of his final race, he said: 'I'm just walking now to the start line at Buckingham Palace for my 76th marathon. I cannot stop laughing. I literally can't describe what this feeling is like, it's so surreal.

'I took up running three years ago and here I am now about to run by 76th consecutive marathon. It's completely hilarious, to be honest with you. What a buzz!

'Today though, start line 9am Buckingham Palace, finishing at 3pm. We're going to have a checkpoint quite close by which will be very visible, there will be a lot of people there.

'I think the weather's meant to be amazing so if you do want to come down and just support bring a picnic, let's have a big party. Today is a celebration.

'I'm just so excited to see you all and I can't wait to just take in every single minute of today. It's so unbelievable special and it's just taken so much to get to this point but we're finally here!'

JP looked in good spirits as he ran along Pall Mall during his final marathon, waving to his supporters and fans.

He was dressed in a navy blue vest and lycra shorts while he wore a matching baseball cap and sunglasses.

Upon finishing he was seen posing with a Union Jack across his shoulders outside the gates of Buckingham Palace.

Josh previouslycontemplated suicide after hitting rock bottom whilebattling terrible bouts of depression and crippling anxiety.

In an exclusive chat with MailOnline, the reality star previously told how he changed his narrative before embarking on his toughest challenge to date - running 76 marathons in 76 cities across the UK in just 76 days in a bid to raise £1million for the Samaritans.

Aged just 13, Josh tried to take his own life after his parents divorced and he hit another low in 2015.

Then in 2018 his relationship to his Made In Chelsea co-star Binky Felstead broke down after the birth of their daughter India, now five.

'For most of my life I have struggled with my mental health,' he said. 'I have had bad bouts of depression. I've been at the point of contemplating suicide.

'I have pretty bad anxiety that I live with every day. When I was younger there was a real lack of understanding of what it was and the support in place for it.'

JP said he would often be ashamed of his mental health struggles as he grew up with loving parents in a comfortable home.

'Mental illness is a terrible torturous disease where you’re a prisoner to your thoughts,' he said.

'For me this made struggling with my own mental health even harder - I would beat myself up thinking I had no right to feel the way I did when others out there have been and are going through so much worse.'

Josh said in his early twenties were his toughest after troubled years as a teenager where he would lash out as a way of coping.

'Men struggle,' he said. 'I think ultimately from a young age we are told not to show emotion and "man up". There's too many men are taking their lives on a daily basis because they're too proud to reach out.'

Despite his own struggles, Josh decided to take on his mammoth marathon challenge, which saw him run a total of 1,991.2 miles over an estimated 465 hours, to fund the Samaritans lifesaving phone calls to people in crisis.

'I'm trying to change the narrative. When you do live with things like this it doesn't mean that life has to come to an end,' he said.

The challenge was an endurance feat of monumental proportions and Josh trained for months with a panel of experts at Until, a London-based holistic hub that offers access to state-of-the-art facilities and industry-leading health and wellness practitioners, to ensure he was in peak condition and are working with him on the road.

'Mentally and physically I have never been stronger,' he said.

'The team are so incredibly valuable. I've always been someone who takes on challenges on their own. For the first time I went into this really needing a team because of the magnitude of it. We have the most empathetic and powerful group of specialists together. '

He admitted there have been tough times and he had 'dad guilt' from being apart from his daughter while running.

'There are days where I miss her terribly,' he said. 'The campervan we've named it Elsa and Mary Poppins because that's what she wanted.

'I talk to her every other day. It was tough decision but ultimately I felt like her Daddy doing this is hopefully a huge amount of inspiration.'

'This challenge as well as my daughter gives me a huge amount of purpose,' he said.

And Josh has one powerful message for anyone, who like him, is battling with their mental health.

He said: 'If anybody is ever struggling, just pick up the phone. Life is tough. Hopefully we can get you through this dark period.'

For help, call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org