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Sam King, known as Sking, an ex gamer who was battling a serious gaming addiction and was severely overweight, has transformed his life to break the men's world record in consecutive ultramarathons. The challenge is for his 74-year-old mother, Penny, who fell ill earlier this year, after suffering a brain bleed.

Sam, 31, will be taking part in an ultramarathon for the brain injury charity Headway UK, running 50km every single day for 74 days as part of his challenge: Project 74. The challenge started on the 27 September 2025 and he still has a long way to go. He is aiming to raise £74,000 for the charity but has reached around 45% of his target.

Sam's mother who is also his best friend, in January this year, collapsed in his arms after suffering a traumatic brain bleed. Doctors told him that she would not be able to survive, but miraculously she did. However, she is now unable to walk, feed herself or hold a proper conversation anymore.

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He has dedicated this challenge to honour his mum and not pass on the opportunity of his mum still being alive. Sam left his job in London to move back home to be closer to his mum, and run these marathons, in which every mile is run for her.

However, not only is this challenge for his mother but Sam shares another deep connection to it. Sam reveals that a few years ago, he was severely overweight and addicted to gaming. At one point, he was number 1 in the world on Call of Duty. When leaving gaming behind, he felt lost and struggled mentally and physically.

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He found his new love for running which changed his life for the better. He shares how it gave him structure and a purpose and built his confidence. These were all things that he never knew he was capable of becoming.

Why the project is known as Project 74 is because that is the age his mother fell ill. Sam is running an ultramarathon for every year of her life before she suffered her brain bleed. Therefore, it is the reason why he is aiming to raise £74,000.

People can donate to his fundraising page on givestar. The runner urges people to help him out as he may not reach his goal. He does not have any budget or PR team and so asks people: to share his story, post it on their stories online, and tag friends in his videos. He wants people to get his story heard to reach more people.

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