A Perth man has completed all four races in the Edinburgh Marathon Festival in a total time of seven hours.
Steve Bonthrone is only the fourth person ever to complete the challenge, which covers almost 50 miles. On Saturday he ran the 5k race in a time of 20 minutes and 39 seconds, going on to complete the 10k in 41 minutes and 33 seconds.
The following day he ran the half marathon in 1 hour 33 minutes and 58 seconds, before jumping on a motorbike driven by friend Fraser Band to go back into the city centre and run the full marathon, which he finished in a time of 4 hours, 26 minutes and 15 seconds.
Steve said Fraser was able to get him back to the start line in the nick of time.
“The half was great but getting back to the start again was a challenge as we got caught in heavy traffic and red lights,” he said.
“I crossed the start line around 10.20am, just as the guys were starting to pack up and it was mile one before I caught the last person and the sweep bus.
“The last 12 miles were tough mentally as much as physically as my head was telling me to stop and walk but my body wanted to keep running.
“I had to walk little bits but I’m delighted I still managed a sprint to the finish,” he went on.
“This weekend has been an amazing experience and one I’m very proud to have gone through.”
The weekend of running was part of a larger challenge the personal trainer has set himself for 2014.
He plans to run 850 miles over the course of the year the distance between Paris, where he ran his first marathon of the year, and Loch Ness, where he will run his last.
He is raising money for Macmillan, having lost his father to cancer last year. Steve and his wife, Allison, are on target to raise more than £6,000 for the charity over the course of 2014.