Duncan Ball ran an ultra-marathon in his back garden to raise money for the Bristol City Centre Hospitals Appeal.

Duncan planned to run the regular 26.2 mile marathon distance in his back garden and driveway – but due to a technical glitch with his GPS watch he actually ran 32 miles, the distance of an ultra-marathon. He has raised more than £4,000 for the appeal.

Duncan said: “My wife Charlie has been a nurse at the BRI for the 17 years and, like many others, is working in very difficult conditions, caring for the sickest people in this pandemic.

“At the end I was exhausted, exhilarated and extremely thankful. I’m very humbled by the whole experience.

"The best bit was seeing the sheer amount of people cheering and supporting me - the whole street was applauding. It was very warming to see and I think everyone felt better for it."

In total Duncan ran in the small space for five hours and 12 minutes on Easter Sunday.

He added: “For the first two hours it wasn’t so bad. However, I couldn’t get into a comfortable pace or rhythm as I was having to constantly slow down and turn at each end. 

“I also had a bit of a dilemma in that my GPS watch was under calculating each lap, so in the end I ran 32.2,
making it an ultra-marathon. 

“It was definitely mind over matter for the last six miles. The six miles I didn’t need to do!”

Following the initial effort, Duncan joined forces with other members of his street to run a marathon relay this weekend. 

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Click here to donate and support Duncan’s marathon efforts.