Health And Fitness: Former British Army Officer Leonard Engages In 24-Hour Non-Stop Burpees Challenge To Support Charity Cause In Kenya

_{Former British Army Officer Jonathan Leonard during his intense 24 hour non-stop burpees challenge at the Hub, Karen in Nairobi at the weekend to raise funds for People Living With Disabilities.Sept 20, 2025. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]}

NAIROBI, Kenya- Jonathan Leonard, a Kenyan who served in the British Army for 14 years, embarked on an energy sapping 24 hour non-stop burpees at the Hub, Karen Mall in Nairobi, over the weekend to raise funds for charity.

The cutthroat challenge was meant to raise Sh 1 million to support People Living with Disabilities (PLWD) in the country.

The 34 year old father of one is using the challenge to support two key charity causes in the country; to provide for the Association of Physically Disabled in Kenya (APDK) with mobility hardware like the wheelchairs and the crutches.

Secondly, to create awareness on education and employment among the PLWDs through his Riziki Source platform.

“This year, the Kenyan parliament passed a legislation bill that 5% of employment roles in the public and the private sector should be reserved for the PLWDs, so there is need for this awareness to be spread among the disabled.

“I’m grateful to the sponsors who have come on board to support this noble idea,” Leonard told Standard Sports before he embarked on the intense 24 hour burpees showdown.

Leonard has been preparing for the charitable cause challenge for the last 15 years, with his exercises getting more intense from last year.

“I served in the army for 14 years where we did lots of burpees that set me up for this noble idea. I do simple and easy exercises that work all the body and can be done anywhere.

“Burpees do make joints and knees ache but I won’t mind the suffering when doing it for an upright movement like this,” he highlighted.

Leonard, who organised the 24 hour challenge with his sister, noted that in his preparations, he did lots of kettlebell and body workout exercises to keep his fitness top notch.

“I also ran 5 to 10km twice a week. I no longer run that much as used to after I broke my back during a parachuting exercise while serving in the army. This incident left one of my leg shorter than the other which doesn’t make running smoother, so the most common and easy exercises for me are the kettle bells and body workouts,” he underlined.

While engaging in the 24 hour burpees challenge, Leonard took intervals every hour to either eat, drink, visit the rest rooms or change his clothes.

Fans also booked links to join him in the challenge with a 30 minutes slot going for Sh2000 and one hour slot reserved for Sh 5000.

Safety measures were also put in place -with standby ambulances, paramedics, physios and physical trainers to ensure the event ran smoothly.

Leonard has no intentions to try his luck for the coveted Guinness Book of Records with his burpee’s sprees.

“My intention is about helping people and making a difference, not breaking any records,” he stated. “Personally, I’d be very much happy and content if this event changed even one person’s life,” he said.

Born and raised in Kenya, Leonard says he has travelled far and wide across the globe but has never encountered any nation with unity other than Kenya.

“Generally, there is a sense of community in this nation that overrides everything, you can only feel and realise it when you are out of the country. Let’s not take this for granted,” he advised.