A Grandad who is fitter than most people half his age has raised an amazing £55,000 for charity after finishing his 409th marathon in less than 25 years.
68-year-old David Phillips set himself the target to complete 400 marathons before the 2012 Olympic Games and smash through the £50,000 mark.
David has reached his target but he has no intention of stopping; he is now planning to hit the 500 marathon mark.
He has raised the money for the Brain and Spine Foundation charity and reached £50,000 when he completed the London Marathon on Sunday 21st April.
Then, just a week later, he was the only participant to finish the Stratford Marathon.
The event had to be cancelled two minutes before the start because of severe weather conditions, but David battled on through the bad weather with some help from his friends.
He said: “The weather was so atrocious and it had to be cancelled.
“Officially, I shouldn’t have really carried on but I did the remaining miles on my own.
“The marshalls and water stations had gone. I had a friend of mine travelling in the car alongside me and offered me coffee when I needed it.
“I’ve never missed the Stratford marathon since its very first year. I had to run it because I was going to celebrate my 409th marathon with a party that evening.”
David shows no signs of slowing down despite smashing his target. He is now planning to complete 500 marathons and get his fundraising total to £75,000.
The accountant got hooked on running 25 years ago and has run marathons in the Swiss Alps, New York, Paris and even Egypt. However, along the way he has suffered with two cartilage operations, two hernias, cracked vertebrae and dislocated elbow.
He also had a near-death experience when he ran in the Black Mountains in South Wales: “I really thought I wasn’t going to make it – I had hypothermia, the clouds and mist came down. I couldn’t see a thing, I was lost. It was the worst experience.
“I stumbled across a walker who said ‘you better follow me.’ I was walking and came across a marshall by which time the clouds had gone and I could see everything. I was very fortunate.”
“The camaraderie of meeting friends and being with family is brilliant. It’s just something absolutely unique.
“I know 409 marathons is a lot but some mad guy is on 800 – I’m a mere apprentice!”