Countless marathons, half marathons, triathlons, 10K races led inevitably to taking things further, examples include the Ridgeway 85, Grand Union Canal 145, the Country to Capital 45, Thames Trot 50 to name a few.
Then came the Europe 135. This race was held in the Bavarian Alps. However, due to a flooded river, it became the best part of 160 miles and 52 hours of running.
This in turn led to the realisation of the Trans-Europe Challenge (TEC).
In 2011 I crossed 1,457 miles of Europe in 30 days. The route took me from London to Rome, via Brussels and Paris, averaging a double marathon every day. Running the first 20 marathons in 10 days was achieved notwithstanding fact that I had a stress fracture of my right tibia from the third day. I’ve never experienced so much pain as I did while running 400 miles on a broken leg. Switching to mountain bike as a consequence, I continued to ride across the Alps to Rome and finished by running to the Circus Maximus.
Shortly afterwards I had the honour of being blessed by Pope Benedict XVI at the papal summer Palace.
Notable other events include the 2012 Athens Classic Marathon, which follows the route that inspired the modern day marathon and the 2013 Lavaredo Ultra Trail that crosses the Italian Dolomites.
Recently, in 2018, I had the opportunity to revisit my first marathon, the London Marathon. It was my second time competing in the event. However, with it being less than two weeks since racing in Fiji and the hottest London Marathon ever in conjunction with my medication not working from ten miles in, it was my slowest and most painful Marathon to date. I still finished!