THE trials and tribulations of being a multi marathon runner have been detailed in a book.

Moreton man Steve Edwards has decided to put his life's achievements in print and open up about how he kept up the momentum of racing each fortnight for more than 27 years to achieve what no other athlete has managed.

It is to be officially launched at a talk and launch evening at the Victoria Hall, at Bourton-on-the-Water on Wednesday April 27.

The book titled: The Man Inside The Machine, is also raising money for Kate's Home Nursing charity, based in Stow.

Last October, Edwards, 53, notched up 700 marathons in the fastest ever average finishing time of 3.17.55.

His aim is to reach the 1,000 marathon mark, something he would never have dreamed of when taking part in his first marathon aged 18, 35 years ago. The teenager vowed never to do it again after deciding to race on a whim and not bothering to train. It was a while before he pulled running shoes on again, but when he did he began a journey that has still a few more years' life in it.

When not pounding the pavements, Edwards is a family man with three grandchildren, a full time job in IT at Campden BRI and is the chairman of his running club Bourton Roadrunners. He has raised over £25,000 for various charities and along with his wife, Teresa, has travelled all over the world not to mention the length and breadth of the British Isles to run marathons.

His book will reveal how he has achieved this remarkable record and what pushes him to carry on.

Edwards explained: The book has taken around two years and has been written by author Helen Summer and contains 480 pages with four sets of black and white pictures. It's been endorsed by British running legend Dr Ron Hill who kindly wrote the foreword. Predominantly the story revolves around what I've tried to achieve in the world of multi marathon running. The what, how and indeed why; the obstacles I've faced along the way and some of the things I've learned from over 30 years of marathon running. It is also my life story so it starts from birth and goes right through to the end of 2015.

"My aim remains to reach 1,000 but as time goes on I worry if I have enough running years left to fit them in. I worry about injury and appreciate how lucky I am to be fit enough at my age to run 26.2 miles almost every two weeks."

What few know is that while he now has more than 720 marathons under his belt, there are several more he has not counted because they were outside the time he was chasing.

"If I got a small injury during a race and perhaps had to slow down or stop for a while I didn't count them, even though I finished them," he said.

The launch and talk evening begins at 7.45pm and the book will be offered at a special price of £10.