Marathon fanatic becomes first person ever to run 500 races - all in under three-and-a-half hours
IT manager Steve Edwards has become the first person in the world to run 500 marathons - each in less than three and a half hours.
When Steve, 48, ran the inaugural Coventry Marathon to win a bet in October 1981 he was so exhausted he initially vowed never to run another.
But he had caught the marathon bug. Nearly 29 years later, he has fulfilled his personal challenge of becoming the first athlete in the world to run 500 official marathons in an average finish time of less than 3hrs 30min.
Marathon runner: Steve Edwards has run 500 official races, each in less than 3 hours 30 minutes; seen here in the London marathon
His average time works out at just 3 hours 18 minutes.
In doing so, he has set a record for the 'fastest 500 marathons ever run by an individual athlete.'
He completed the 500 - two years earlier than expected - on Sunday at the Connemara marathon in Ireland.
Mr Edwards, of Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire, started running marathons when he was 18.
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The father-of-one has already run more than 13,000 miles in marathons - plus thousands more miles in training.
He also holds the world record for running ten marathons in ten days.
'Everything went so well that I had to revise my original goal, which was just to run 500 marathons by 2012,' he said.
'No-one who has run 500 marathons has ever done it in anything like the times I did.
'I surprised myself with what I have been able to do.'
Marathon effort: Steve at the end of one of his many races
Apart from a groin muscle strain which put him out of action for 3-4 weeks in 2008 Mr Edwards has never had to stop running because of injury.
On average, he says, he has been running a marathon every 17 days for the last 21 years.
His 47-year-old wife Teresa has been his biggest supporter, attending every one of his races.
It was in 1981 that Steve made a bet over a few beers with his mates that he could complete a marathon in his home city of Coventry.
In 1990, aged 28, he became the youngest man in the world to run 100 marathons and by 1992 the youngest to have run 200.
In that year he completed 87 of the gruelling 26-mile courses - flying in the face of medical advice that runners should not do more than 2-3 marathons per year.
His passion for the race has seen him compete in 27 countries including New Zealand, America, Norway, Morocco and Sweden.
He plans to dedicate his achievement of 500 sub 3-30 marathons to help raise awareness and sponsorship of his chosen charity - the Brathay Hall Trust, which works with disadvantaged children and young people from all over the UK.
'I have a justgiving page where people can donate,' he said. 'It's at www.justgiving.com/run500.
'My running has taken me to 26 countries in all, not to mention the length and breadth of the British Isles, from the Isles of Scilly to the Outer Hebrides, some 60 counties all told.
'Of course without the love and support from my wife I know I wouldn't have been able to achieve all that I have, so the secret of my success - "behind every great man..." and all that.'
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