Steve Edwards, 53, crossed the finish line of the Bournemouth marathon to set a new world record for running 700 marathons in the fastest ever average finish time. Since running his first at the age of 18 in 1981, Steve has managed to average 3hrs 17mins 55secs for every single one.
This achievement caps off another impressive year of running for Steve, who became the first athlete in the world to run 600 sub 3hrs 30mins marathons and the first British athlete to run 300 sub 3hrs 15mins marathons. Steve has now run a marathon, on average, every 14 days for the last 27 years.
As well as smashing records for fun, family man Steve has three grandchildren, a full time job in IT, is the chairman of his running club Bourton Roadrunners, and has raised over £25,000 for various charities and along.
After Sunday’s race, which he finished in a time of 3hrs 14mins 59secs, Steve said: “This was never meant to happen, after my first marathon I said never again! I still can’t quite believe this has been possible.
“I’ve learned so much about myself over all the years I’ve been running. People say I make it look easy but it certainly isn’t, if only they could see what I have to do behind the scenes just to keep up this level of fitness.
“At the end of the day though, I have a very loving and supportive wife in Teresa and without her support I know that I couldn’t have achieved all that I have”.
So, what’s next for Steve? Another marathon, as it happens: his 701st will be in York next weekend, and the journey towards the ultimate 1,000 marathon world record mark continues.
Steve Edwards has just completed his 700th marathon at BMF. Time to change that Twitter handle @TeamEdwards600 ? pic.twitter.com/toZdyHSu3y
— Bournemouth Marathon (@RunBournemouth) October 4, 2015
