Paul’s 100-mile epic run was a walk in the park

Paul Reader, of Burpham, has handed in more than £3,000 to Littlehampton-based charity the Arun Sunshine Group, after he completed a 100-mile sponsored run, earlier this year

Amateur endurance athlete Paul Reader, of The Street, managed to raise the cash for the Arun Sunshine Group by completing the gruelling ultra-marathon in 20 hours 48 min.

The 49-year-old, ran the entire length of the South Downs Way, starting in Winchester and finishing in Eastbourne.

He said: “I really wanted to do something for a local charity, not one of the large ones.

“And I’ve seen the work that Arun Sunshine does and I knew that a couple of years ago it lost its lottery funding, so I thought that this would be a great charity to raise cash for.

“I know it needs about £6,000 per year to keep running so this will really go a long way towards that figure.”

Paul finished in a respectable 38th place out of the 200 competitors taking part in the event.

But the run itself, as he explains, wasn’t the hard part – it was the training.

“In the last year I ran about 1,700 miles,” he admitted. “This year alone I ran more than 1,330 miles.

“The main mistake people make when taking part in ultra-marathons like this is to set off too early.

“In a regular marathon you might hit the wall at say 18 or 20 miles. That’s all right because you know that you could probably walk the last four or so.

“But if you hit the wall at say mile 70 in a 100-mile race, there’s not much chance you’ll complete the remaining 30.”

Paul now has his sights set on running two more 100-mile runs, next year.

He also hopes to compete in the world’s oldest and most prestigious 100-mile race, the Western States Endurance Run, in America.

Paul wished to thank everyone who has supported him during his fundraising exploits.