Amputee Colin Edwards, 56, has jogged the equivalent of a half marathon every day for the last six weeks along the South West Coast path.
The super-fit father-of-two has climbed a total of 115,003ft scaling the hills of Cornwall, Somerset, Devon and Dorset - nearly four times the height of Mount Everest.
He is due to finish his epic charity challenge on Sunday by competing in the Torbay Half Marathon in Torquay, Devon.
He says that running with a prosthetic limb makes it a lot harder - but just like Forrest Gump, he just keeps on running.
Mr Edwards, 56, was in a motorbike accident when he was 19 but there were complications and a decade ago he had to have his leg amputated. He said it left him feeling down but he was determined to keep going.
'At the age of 45 I decided to start running again, although I was very unfit to start with,' he said.
'Slowly my fitness improved until I was able to run marathons and severe off road races, and I am now raising money to help others.'
The father-of-two from Newton Abbot, Devon took up running to ease his pain and joined his local club the Teign Valley Hash House Harriers.
He then started to help a variety of charities through running and climbing and was given the nickname of 'Forrest Stump'.
Among his charity efforts, Mr Edwards climbed to the summit of Cocopaxi in Ecuador and has also tackled Base Camp on Mount Everest.
He set off on his current 630-mile run on May 1 and has so far raised more than £5,000 for amputee charity PORT-ER.
His journey started in Salcombe taking him round Cornwall to Somerset and then south again to Devon.
Speaking from Lulworth Cove, in Dorset, yesterday (Weds) he said: 'I've done about 580 miles so far so I'm feeling pretty tired. I have a campervan I've been staying in at night and although I've been running alone, friends and volunteers have been driving it to meet me.
'I've been stopping for lots of pub lunches along the way and have been admiring some of the breath-taking views on the coast.'
Mr Edwards, who runs an agricultural building business, added: 'I'm looking forward to being able to stop running for a day or two.
'It is also nice that I will finish on Father's Day and my two children Emily, 21, and Tom, 18, will be there at the finishing line supporting me.
'I'm sure my friends at the running club will look forward to seeing me cross the finish line too.'
0 comments:
Post a Comment