Penn State student starts 61-day, 3,500-mile triathlon for charity. How to follow along
Penn State doctoral student Matthew Hollingham, 25, officially began his 3,500-mile triathlon for charity Sunday — and he’ll continue to swim, run and cycle from the Arctic Circle to Africa until July 30.
The grueling 61-day triathlon (with no days off) is meant to honor Hollingham’s late fiancée, Lovisa Arnesson-Cronhamre, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver on University Park’s campus in 2023. Hollingham is raising money for charities that were close to both their hearts.
Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, the first to sponsor the feat, is aiming to host daily updates and weekly videos through its social media channels on Instagram and Facebook.
Hollingham spoke to the Centre Daily Times earlier in May about the triathlon.
“A part of me is not really anxious that this is going to absolutely destroy my body,” he said in mid-May. “But it’s much more simple than my day job. If anything, it’s quite calm. I get to spend two months where I wake up, I run, I go to sleep, and that’s kind of my day, whereas now it’s like a hybrid of that.”
Hollingham, an international student from England, is pursuing a doctorate in architectural engineering. The longtime endurance athlete, who once climbed Mount Nittany 49 times over 35.5 hours, juggled training since the fall semester with his studies.
His triathlon began Sunday with a frigid 2.4-mile swim in the Arctic. From there, he’ll traverse 970 miles by running and another 2,580 miles by cycling. In other words, he’ll run the equivalent of 37 consecutive marathons and follow it up with a race longer than the Tour de France.
He and his friend Jack Hughes will document his efforts along the way, on HVAB’s social media channels, in hopes to raise more funds for charity. He’s seeking to raise $125,000 for local nonprofit Centre County Youth Services and another $125,000 for international nonprofit Save the Children.
His journey will take him through nine countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Lovisa’s home country of Sweden before ending in Morocco.
“The thing that I’ve learned the most from being a part of this is the way that you process grief doesn’t have to be debilitating,” Hughes told the CDT earlier in May. “It can actually be the opposite.”
For more information, or to donate to Matthew’s and Lovisa’s charities, go to happyvalley.com/arctic-to-Africa. And, to follow along with the triathlon, visit HVAB’s Instagram page (@happvalleypa) or its Facebook page (The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau).
