Gruelling 105 mile challenge
A Steyning man has proved himself an ultra runner by completing the equivalent of four marathons back to back in just over 24 hours.
And 41-year-old Nigel Tweed did it all with no sleep in between.
But it was in a good cause. Nigel ran a total of 105 miles in 24 hours and 39 minutes to raise funds for the charity Pans Pandas UK.
It was all part of Reading Endure 24 during which participants are urged to rack up as many miles as possible in 24 hours.
Nigel, an antique tool dealer who has lived in Steyning for around 30 years, raised a total of £2,400 for Pans Pandas – an autoimmune disorder associated with streptococcus – a condition which his wife Samara has.
"We hope to raise awareness, so more of us recognise the symptoms and hope to raise funds for future research and treatment development,” said Nigel. “Many children go undiagnosed and life can be a terrible for them, I am hoping if it helps just one person it's job done.”
Nigel says he has always been a keen ‘average’ runner but prepared for his 105-mile trek with around eight months of gruelling training.
And on the day itself Nigel says he had “an incredible support team of around 14 people including my brother in law Vinnie who was like a rock for me the whole event.”
But after a good start, Nigel gradually felt the strain as he pounded along his journey and after 50 miles he started to feel exhausted.
By 60 miles his feet started to blister but he patched them up and put on fresh socks and trainers “half a size larger as I heard your feet swell up.”
It proved a good move. “Running through the night was tiring but fun,” he said. “I didn't think about sleep, I had a job to do and sleeping wasn't in my plan.”
But by 90miles, said Nigel, “I had nothing left but I thought about why I was doing this and got going again.”
Five miles later “I was gone, nothing left.” But a friend whose wife had recently died gave him a hairband his wife had worn and said: “She is doing this lap with you.”
It proved the spur to keep him going. “I power walked and it got me through,” he said.
“The last km felt like another 100 miles, I had people cheering me on but I was a zombie, I wasn't even walking at this stage, just sliding along the ground.
"I crossed the line and finished in 24hours 43mins, this got me eighth in the male solo runner category … I was so emotional yet my tears weren't working i was that far drained. My wife came and hugged me at the finish line.
"I wanted to shout and cheer in celebration but I just couldn't do anything. I had set out what I wanted to achieve thanks to my amazing team support around me.”
To donate to Nigel’s fundraiser visit the website https://www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/ nigel-tweed 1