A Cotswold runner has astoundingly broken a Guinness World Record after running 1,000 marathons.

The 61-year-old resident of Longborough near Moreton, Steve Edwards, achieved the new world record for the fastest aggregate time to run 1,000 marathons on Monday (May 6), at the Milton Keynes marathon.

Edwards' impressive feat was accomplished with the encouragement of his family, neighbours, friends and the UK marathon running community, who had turned up to witness the ground-breaking event.

 

 

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Accompanied the whole way round by good friend Dennis Walmsley from Bourton, Edwards battled through a nasty hip injury suffered after his 996th marathon to complete the challenge.

Many in attendance touted his triumph as perhaps the ultimate multi-marathon world record achievement.

After the race, Edwards said: "Today was the finale to what has been an incredible 43 year journey, an end of an era for Team Edwards and we can't quite believe that it's now all over.

"I don't mind admitting that it's been extremely difficult in recent years with wear & tear and injury all taking its toll."

He added: "There are so many people I would like to thank, friends, supporters and all my sponsors but the biggest thank you goes to the better half of Team Edwards, my lovely wife Teresa, none of this would have been possible without her dedicated & loving support."

Over his marathon-running career, Edwards not only focused on breaking records, but also devoted efforts to raise money and awareness for Kate's Home Nursing.

The charity provides palliative nursing care and holds a special place for Mr and Mrs Edwards, with Teresa having served on its nursing team.

Edwards’ journey was not short of remarkable statistics, running a marathon every 13 days on average for the last 36 years.

The first 500 marathons took him over two decades, completing them between the ages of 25 and 45, with an average finish time of three hours and 18 minutes.

The next 500 marathons, completed from 45 to 61 years of age, had an average finish time of three hours and 24 minutes.

His total average finish time for all the marathons was three hours, 21 minutes and 47 seconds.