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I arrived in my mid-fifties, clinically obese, riddled with arthritis and often having to walk with a stick.
I had an epiphany, threw away my stick and resolved to change my life for ever. I started walking every day. The walking turned to running and after two years I had lost a third of my body weight and was fitter than I had been since my twenties. I started running all over Europe and pushed myself harder and harder. In 2015 I ran eight self-supported marathons in eight countries in eight days driving myself between each one - a world's first. As I approached my sixtieth birthday, I wanted to mark it in a really spectacular way. I decided to emulate the world's greatest trail runner, Kilian Jornet, and run across Spain from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The journey would take me 525 miles across the Pyrenees climbing a total of more than 125,000 feet - the equivalent of four 'Everests'.
This is my story.
About the author
Andrew Townsend is a runner, writer and photographer from Reading, UK. He runs thousands of miles every year, mostly solo and with minimal planning. His adventures include running 8 marathons in 8 countries in 8 days - a world first, a 300km dash across Italy in just 7 days and an epic, 525 mile run across Spain from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. You can read more about Andrew by going to andrewtownsend.com
