Marathon man heads for 66th finish line

Andy McMenemy, 49, from Stirling, has completed legs of his run in Glasgow, Stirling and Inverness and yesterday clocked up his 59th, 31-mile ultra-marathon along the esplanade in Aberdeen.

Today he will be running at Camperdown Park Wildlife Centre, in Dundee, while tomorrow he will finish the Scottish leg with an ultra-marathon in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh.

Despite ripping his Achilles tendon on day two and developing agonising pains in his hips, the runner claims the task has been an uplifting experience.

"There have been days when I have felt physically sick at the idea of running for another six hours, but the whole journey has been really worthwhile," he said. "When the pain starts I just focus on the reason I am doing this."

Mr McMenemy, whose father is a former soldier, has already raised 65,000 through his Challenge 66 campaign, but hopes eventually to raise 1 million. All proceeds will go to soldiers' charity ABF, which helps take care of wounded servicemen.

Yesterday in Aberdeen, the athlete, who works as a motivational speaker, was joined by scores of other runners and given a civic send off by Lord Provost Peter Stephen.

Mr McMenemy began his run on 16 March in Leeds and will finish at York Racecourse on 20 May, his 50th birthday.