Student who ‘does not like running' aims to run 500km in 10 days
A student who claims not to enjoy running is attempting to run 500km in 10 days for charity.
Sean Tilson, 21, hopes to raise £5,000 for the cancer charity Sarcoma UK.
Last year, he completed four challenges in four months, which included a 100-mile run and Ironman triathlon.
For the past eight months, Mr Tilson been training for his latest endurance feat.
The University of Exeter student is setting off on Thursday from the city and will be stopping off at schools along the route to talk with students about mindset.
His route will take him from Exeter to Fleet in Hampshire, via Birmingham and Eton and Windsor.
He credits mindset with turning his life around after he lost his mother at the age of 14 to sarcoma, a term that describes bone and soft tissue cancer.
'I'll be talking to them about mindset and my belief that the only voice that limits you in your life is your own,' he said.
'For a large chunk of my life I felt pretty powerless, like I was alone in a crowded room and didn't quite fit in, but through mindset I was able to turn that narrative around.
'I did this by imagining the person I wanted to be and defining the values I wanted to live by – courage, curiosity, kindness and integrity – and using those four values as the framework to evaluate my decisions.'
Mr Tilson, who will graduate later this year with a degree in business management, has been the president of five societies while at the university, including the endurance society IronFit.
He said that while being a good runner, he does not enjoy it.
'For me it's very much a discipline, a way to measure what I can accomplish when I stick with something,' he said.
'But it's a fascinating sport that's taught me so much about resilience and how, even in your lowest moments, like when I did my 100-mile challenge and was struggling to stay in the race, you can turn things around.
'These days I find running meditative, so I think I will enjoy this challenge, especially as I've got such a great team around me.
'Realising that mindset is where true growth lies has really helped me make the most of my time here at Exeter.
'I want to encourage others to take a step forward, be kind to yourself, but always be guided by that vision of the person you want to become.'
In the autumn he will start a graduate job in New York as a business analyst.
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