'Horrendous blisters' Retired banker takes on marathon task

The first fortnight was tough - terrible blisters, a flare of gout that needed a visit to A&E and the realisation that running 200 marathons in 200 days around the coast of Great Britain would not be a walk in the park.

- Steven Morris

But Steve James, a 65-year-old retired banker from Devon, has found his feet, and yesterday reached halfway - an average of 100 marathons in 100 days.

"In those first two weeks I was thinking: 'What have I done?'" James said. "I've been running for 50 years and never get blisters but I had horrendous ones for the first 10 days. My feet felt like they had been put in a vice. The gout was a bit of a curveball but the hospital prescribed some stuff and it went away. Now I feel fine."

James's progress along the coastlines of England, Wales and Scotland is being tracked by experts from the University of Exeter, to find out the effects an extreme challenge has on an older person.