Charley ran a marathon on a treadmill while playing Warzone and raised £12,000 for a great cause.
Feelgood Friday: The Literal "Marathon Gaming" Session That Raised Thousands
Written by Ollie Bradley at 04/29/2022, 04:55 AM
Being able to keep fit whilst playing video games is a dream for many gamers. The lure of an extra half an hour is all-too powerful when we're sat so comfortably in our favourite gaming chair. But there's one professional gamer who has cracked the code: gaming on a treadmill.
The jury's out on how running for 26.2 miles affected British gamer Charley Halford's gaming ability, though we're willing to bet there was a steady decline. The important part, however, was that it was all in the name of charity. And it's safe to say that his efforts were successful.
"The reason we came up with this is because I actually had done a video playing 'Warzone' on a treadmill in a gym, and I turned to my team and was like, 'do you think that I could do that while doing a marathon?'" Said Charley in an interview with ITV.
"I really like to push everything to the limit. And bearing in mind I was like very overweight at that point, drinking a lot and very unhealthy, everyone turned around and said 'Charley, there's not really a chance…" Spoiler alert: there was.
Charley managed to raise over £12,000 to be split equally between Combat Stress and Blesma, two charities that support British veterans of the armed forces. The beauty of this particular fundraiser is that Blesma will be using the funds to help veterans who want to get into gaming, but can't access the equipment.
As we know, gaming is a perfect tool for bringing people together. And part of Blesma's strategy is to use the power of gaming in this exact way by running gaming events.
Charley's game of choice throughout his stint was Warzone, and after months of training managed to go the distance. His GoFundMe page is still accepting donations, should you wish to show your support.
If anything, Charley's marathon gaming session proved that gaming and exercise can go hand-in-hand. And as Charley's friend, Jamie 'Pud' Chambers put it: "He's trying to break the stigma of 'you just sit in your mum's basement and play video games for a living' to playing video games on a treadmill in your mum's basement for a living." Well, that stigma is broken.