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St Albans: Josh Patterson runs 73rd charity marathon

BBC Josh Patterson in front of St Albans CathedralBBC
St Albans is the latest location in Josh Patterson's fundraising challenge to run a marathon in all of the UK's 76 cities

Made in Chelsea star Joshua Patterson has reached number 73 in his bid to run 76 marathons in 76 days for a mental health charity.

St Albans in Hertfordshire is the latest city in his Run For 1 Million challenge for the Samaritans.

He said local people running with him would "vocalise that message that we're here to support as many as possible".

The reality TV star also said he wanted to "achieve a world first" running a marathon in all of the UK's cities.

However, Mr Patterson told BBC Three Counties Radio the record was "not important" and that donations were the "major focus" for him.

Joshua Patterson standing with a group of runners
Local runners have joined Mr Patterson in many of the cities he has been running in for the fundraising challenge

His target is £1m and nearly £186,000 has been raised so far, which he said had funded "over 33,000 phone calls" to the Samaritans.

Mr Patterson said the charity had a hub in all 76 cities, and that was the reason behind running a marathon in all of them.

"The money that we've raised will benefit the entirety of the UK, so it wasn't just about spreading the message - it was about supporting everyone within it too."

He said in the past he had "hit rock bottom" with his mental health and he knew "how horrendous it is".

"I've been fortunate enough to have an environment that has kind of got me through it," he said.

"There's a lot of people out there that don't, and although I might not personally be able to have a one-on-one conversation with them, word spreads when you do these sorts of challenges."

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This week's other marathons were in Chelmsford on Monday and Colchester on Tuesday, with Oxford the next on the list on Thursday.

His final marathons will be in the capital on Friday (City of London) and Saturday (City of Westminster), and he said that after it he would feel "so grateful to my family who've supported me through this process, to the general public for every donation, for every person that's come out and supported me, to all the runners that have run alongside me and shared the road".

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