52-year-old Councillor Richard Body, has passed the half way point in his challenge to run 12 marathons in 12 months

A DETERMINED Dudley councillor who has passed the half way point in his challenge to run 12 marathons in 12 months is set to face his toughest test yet. Cradley and Wollescote councillor Richard Body, who went from fat to fit after realising he needed to shed the pounds, will take part in the Pennine Barrier 53 mile ultra-marathon on June 23 as part of his multi-marathon charity challenge. The 52-year-old only took up running in August 2016 but his two most recent 26 mile runs – his fifth and sixth of the year – took him to the picturesque surroundings of Strafford-Upon-Avon and the southern county town of Dorchester. He admitted the Dorchester hills proved a tough task, adding: “This was my hilliest endurance race to date. There must have been 10 or more. Each giving stunning views of the Dorset countryside. I walked most of them including the mile long beauty just after mile 23. “But just two miles in I came along a chap running in bare feet. He was raising money for a children's charity and turns out he once worked at Dudley Zoo as a monkey keeper for two years, before moving down south. “There were also two blind runners and another two with artificial limbs. Runners of all genders, ages, sizes and abilities all took part, plus one 52-year-old grey-haired arthritic councillor from Wollescote.” Despite undergoing surgery for a knee injury - and medics telling him he would never run again - he continues his challenge with marathon number seven in Yeovil on Sunday, June 10. After that, on June 23, comes his biggest and scariest challenge - the Pennine Barrier ultra-marathon.

posted Monday June 4th