Grandpa is walking the Earth’s circumference to raise money for Alzheimer's

A grandfather has been walking the Earth's circumference for years. He plans to finish the course when he reaches the age of 90. Brian Everett from Darlington, U.K., has been walking five to six hours every day for about 25,000 miles around England and Europe, raising funds along the way. He started fundraising for charity after his wife died of cancer in 2004, reports Metro UK. 

He started fundraising for cancer research in memory of his wife and since then, he has been able to raise almost $200,000 for different charities. Sheila was his partner in crime and the couple used to travel the world. They went on several adventures like trekking in the Himalayas, the Annapurna Mountain range in Nepal and several other places. Now, Brian has been able to raise money by climbing mountains, trekking, epic cycling and long-distance running.

His wife died at the age of 67 and left a huge gap in his life. He said, "There’s a big gap in your life. It never goes away. It’s been 18 years but the gap is still there. Obviously, when you’re doing things you used to do together, you miss your partner." 

He took on the challenge of walking an average of 9.3 miles a day to reach 24,901 miles, equivalent to Earth's circumference. He is doing this to raise money for Alzheimer's society. He started in 2017 and rarely took a day off. He even walked several miles on Christmas Day. He has already traveled more than 18,000 miles and anticipates finishing in 2024 at the age of 90.

He said, "It is a bit of a struggle, quite honestly, doing the remaining mileage. I think you just have to keep going. It’s partially nice to have achieved it but it’s daunting to think that I’ve still got some way to go." He continued, "I thought this was something different. I started out with the idea of simulating a walk across America but then it developed out of that to walking around the world."

Every morning and afternoon, Brian takes two walks. He claims that his family's reactions to the challenge have ranged from admiration—mostly from the younger generations—to believe he is crazy. He explained, "I walk wherever I am. It varies but I can spend up to five or six hours a day walking. It’s the only way you can get the mileage in quite honestly because I’ve been averaging 9.3 miles a day."

He said that if he takes a day off he compensates for it by walking the double distance the next day. He said, "Walking for a few hours a day just becomes natural – I just hope I don’t pull a hamstring or something like that." He has been able to raise around $9500 till now and aims to reach the target of about $20,000 by the end of his mission. 

He traveled to Morocco to hike and scale the High Atlas Mountains, traversing 180 miles and nearly 14,000 feet in 10 days at the age of 71. He scaled five active volcanoes in the Mediterranean and Aeolian Islands in eight days in 2016, when he was 81 years old. In addition, he has scaled Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro, gone on expeditions into the Amazon Rainforest, and ascended the Inca Trail to reach Everest Base Camp through the Peruvian Andes.

He has even cycled 1,000 miles along the Danube River in 14 days, across the Pennines in under eight hours, and from coast to coast in the UK from Workington to Whitby in three days. He intends to look for a new challenge after his present feat is accomplished. He said, "I’ll just have to wait and see what opportunities arise. I hope I will still be doing challenges. I just want to do something to keep the mind and body active, but there’s also the added bonus that the challenges help generate funds for charities."