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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Rebecca Speare-Cole

Boy, 12, climbs to height of Mount Everest by going up and down his stairs more than 2,500 times during coronavirus lockdown

Seth Charles, from Sheffield, who climbed his stairs 2,057 after the coronavirus pandemic meant he had to rethink his planned climb of Scarfell Pike (Picture: PA)

A 12-year-old boy has climbed the height of Everest without even leaving his house during the coronavirus lockdown.

Seth Charles, from Sheffield, set himself the task of climbing the stairs at his home 2,507 times.

He decided to rethink his original plans of climbing Scafell Pike after the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the trip.

By climbing England's highest mountain, Seth was hoping to raise money for a trip with his boxing club - Sheffield Boxing Centre.

Amateur boxer Seth Charles, from Sheffield (PA)

The group of amateur boxers hope to go to San Francisco on a training camp, although it is not yet known if this will also be rescheduled due to the pandemic.

After the UK was placed on lockdown, with all non-essential travel banned, the family worked out how many times he would need to climb the stairs to achieve the height of Everest from sea level.

Seth Charles, from Sheffield, who climbed his stairs 2,057 after the coronavirus pandemic meant he had to rethink his planned climb of Scarfell Pike. (PA)

The climb took Seth just under 24 hours - he started at 5.30am on Tuesday and finished at 4.45am the following day.

His mum Rachael said: "I just couldn't believe that he carried on going, I was just dead on my feet just being there and helping him count. But he did it."

The keen boxer, who last year got through to the finals of the national championships, completed the hike in one day, only stopping to break for food.

He was supported by his younger sister, who kept a tally for him.

Rachael said: "We originally thought it would take him 10 hours, but realised we had got our maths wrong.

"His legs are quite stiff today, but they've trained him quite well at this boxing centre. They do stairs there, but they've never done that amount before."

The hike is just one of a number of fundraisers the boys at the centre are doing to raise money for the training camp.

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