A RUNNER completed a staggering seven ‘ultra-races’ - totalling 439 miles and in just four months.

Each race completed by John McVelia covered a distance of around 100km, or 63 miles.

The 52 year-old from Tiptree, who nearly gave up halfway through the first race, has now raised more than £3,000 for Help for Heroes.

John said: “In October there was an ultra-marathon on TV and I thought I would like to give that a go.

“I had a search around and found a couple I liked. I noticed one company did a series of them and for charities.

“I thought if I did one, I have got to do the training anyway! It was only after the first one I realised what a mammoth thing this would be.”

John’s first race was on the Isle of Wight at the start of May.

“It was all off-road, very, very hilly. I was one of those stupid people who believed the Isle of Wight was an island and therefore the course was going to be flat – it wasn’t.

“I got to the halfway point and I turned round to the organisers and said I didn’t want to do this.

“One of them sat me down and said to try the second half and see how I felt.”

John did and 22 hours after he started he reached the end.

Upon completion dad-of-four John could barely walk to his car and later slept for 14 hours.

That was despite training at weekends by running 5k Saturday Park Runs, running home from them and then running several miles in a Sunday race.

The next six races were from London to Brighton, the Cotswold Way, Jurassic Coast, Wye Valley, South Downs and finally the Thames Path completed on September 8.

The final three were all within a fortnight of each other and the physical demands of all have seen John lose two and a half stones.

The races were inevitably mentally challenging too.

“You try to put the world to rights in your head and a lot of it is talking to other runners and walkers,” John, who is married to Rebecca, said.

“Sometimes you do doze off. I had one occasion when I felt my eyes closing when I was running and then it was ‘oh sugar!”

On his decision to fundraise for Help for Heroes, John said: “I have got family that are in the services.

“I wanted to go into the services when I was younger but didn’t quite make it and so have always had a connection.”

Construction firm worker John was also heavily involved in the reconstruction work of roads around the charity’s personnel recovery centre when it opened in 2012.

You can still sponsor John, who runs for Tiptree Road Runners, at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/john-mcvelia.