10:24am Friday 9th May 2008
By Simon Crump
A BOURTON athlete is hoping to score ten out of ten by breaking a marathon world record.
Steve Edwards, 45, a member of Bourton Road Runners athletics club, is trying to achieve the fastest ever aggregate time for running ten marathons in ten days.
He is attempting the record by tackling the Brathay 10 Marathons in 10 Days Challenge, which comprises ten circuits of a hilly, UK Athletics-certified marathon course around Lake Windermere, Cumbria.
Steve has run marathons for nearly 27 years, during which he has broken many records.
Aged 28, he became the youngest person in the world to complete 100 marathons.
Two years later, he set another world record by running 87 marathons in one year.
He has completed a total of 453 marathons and aims to become the first person to run 500 marathons in an average time of less than three hours, 20 minutes.
Steve aims to accomplish this feat in 2012, to mark both his 50th birthday and the London Olympics.
The Brathay event, which he is due to complete on Sunday, represents one of his stiffest tests yet.
He is looking to break the course's current record of 37 hours, 39 minutes that was set last year.
Running the course 10 times in succession equates to a total of 262 miles.
Steve said: "I'm looking forward to it and have been training since January.
"I'm in good shape.
"I'm up for it and hope I can get that little bit of luck that allows me to come home with the record."
The challenge has also seen Steve raise more than £2,000 in sponsorship money for the Brathay Hall Trust, a charity helping disadvantaged children and young people throughout the UK.
To find out more about the challenge and to sponsor Steve, log onto www.justgiving.com/steveedwards10in10
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