Men complete ‘brutal’ six ultramarathons in six days

Two friends have completed six “brutal” ultramarathons in six days to raise money for charity.

Simon Pilkington, from Bristol, covered about 180 miles (289.6km) along with Rob Dowling, from West Sussex.

The men were raising money for the Oliver’s Wish Foundation, set up after Mr Dowling’s two-year-old son died in 2015 from Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC).

Mr Pilkington said the challenge had been “amazing, yet incredibly and brutally tough”.

The men started with the London Marathon on 27 April – and spent the next five days running about 30 miles (48km) per day during a heatwave.

“The added heat was just something else. It absolutely sapped every part of our energy,” said Mr Pilkington.

With the support of friends – who joined them during certain points of the route – the pair managed to raise more than £51,000 for Oliver’s Wish, which helps charities supporting babies, children and young people.

Mr Pilkington said he spent six months training for the challenge, building his aerobic fitness through boxing and long distance running.

His training regime included waking up at 05:00 in the middle of winter to go running and taking ice baths for recovery.

He said building this discipline helped him to stay focused during the challenge.

Initially, Mr Dowling had only signed up for The London Marathon, but later decided to join Mr Pilkington – who he met at a previous fundraising event – for the full challenge.

After completing the London Marathon the pair collected their medals and continued running for another five miles (8km) up to Paddington.

They spent the next five days running 30miles (48km) each day, following the canal paths back home to Bristol.

Mr Pilkington said the biggest struggle was to wake up each day and resume running again, but that motivation came from seeing the donations coming in.

“One day we saw another grand come in, another day another five grand, until we got to £51,000,” he said.

A crowd of family, friends and neighbours greeted them when they finally arrived in Westbury-on-Trym at about 18:30 BST on Friday.

“It was an amazing reception coming into Westbury,” said Mr Pilkington.

“There was 40 children and their parents up on The Downs giving us a guard of honour.

“I’m proud of us as a group for managing to do it.”

The money raised through the challenge will allow Oliver’s Wish to help fund charity research into the cause of sudden unexplained death in children.

The funds will be donated to SUDC UK, Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice and the The Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

“The charities we support desperately need the funds,” said Mr Dowling.

“We know that the money is going to be put specifically to medical research, which we hope will one day make this awful mystery of a diagnosis a thing of the past.”