100-mile marathon

PUSHING on . . . Chris in action

A FATHER of two ran 100 miles in under 34 hours as part of a gruelling challenge to raise money for research into a rare, muscle-wasting disease.

Chris Tetlow (33), of Moorside, completed the Lakeland 100 - the equivalent of four marathons around the Lake District - to fun-raise for charity Duchenne Now. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy affects only boys and there is no cure.

Chris felt compelled to help when he discovered a colleague’s stepson has DMD.

He said: “I’ve already done two 50-mile runs and the 69-mile run along Hadrian’s Wall, so I wanted to push myself a little bit more.”

The multi-marathon started at 6pm on July 26, when 274 runners set off from Coniston. They ran through the night into Saturday, all through the day and into the early hours of Sunday.

Despite having its highest drop-out rate ever - 150 failed to finish - Chris was triumphant, finishing 65th after 33 hours and 52 minutes.

“I had a bit of a wobble on Saturday morning — I was falling asleep on my feet. But I got changed, had something to eat and drink and when I set off again I felt like I’d only been running for 10 minutes.

“When you get to the finish line you go into a hut where all the other runners are, and there’s just a massive wave of applause and cheering that hits you. I was absolutely buzzing.”

Chris has raised £1,400 with the challenge - and there’s still several weeks for people to donate more.

He added: “I’m really proud of myself. To finish it was so satisfying, even if I did look like a drowned rat!

Donate at: www.justgiving.co.uk/christetlow249