Eastbourne dad runs 118 miles in Beachy Head ultra-marathon challenge

Ollie Goulden completed the Beachy Head Marathon route four times over – with flooded roads forcing him to go even further.

The personal trainer said it was the two ‘amazing charities’ he is raising money for that got him through it.

He said, “It was hard work. It was tough. But I got it finished.

“My feet are sore I have got blisters left right and centre.”

The 31-year-old has so far raised almost £2,000 for the Beachy Head Chaplains and Macmillian Cancer Support, after his step-dad Tom died of bowel and lung cancer in 2018.

Ollie started the challenge on Saturday (March 7) at 2pm, and he managed to complete it 28 hours and 30 minutes later, at 6.30pm on Sunday night (March 8).

They had to change the original course due to a lot of it being underwater with the flooding.

Because of this, Ollie ended up running down the side of the A27 and out into Seaford, adding four and a half miles to each lap.

He thanked everyone who ran with him at certain stages of the challenge.

“It helped get my mind off what I was doing, they were chatting to me.”

But from 8pm on Saturday night until 2am on Sunday morning Ollie was running alone.

He said the toughest part was around 4am when he was being battered by 40mph gusts of wind on the 500ft cliffs.

We were getting pelted by rain coming sideways,” Ollie said, “I kept moving.”

But he said, what motivated him throughout the whole experience was raising money, and he said, “I did it for Tom.”

You can still visit Ollie’s fundraiser at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/OllieGouldenBeachyLoops