Martin Parnell might be one person glad to see the end of 2010.
On Friday afternoon, the Cochrane runner completed his goal of running 250 marathons in a year.
Parnell had set off at 9 a.m. running along the river pathway Cochrane. About 30 supporters – some of them on horseback – joined him on his last leg and saw him cross the finish line in the afternoon.
"I'll be honest with you. It's been a long year. I was out five days this week, five days the week before, five days the week before that for 12 months," Parnell said. "So I'm happy it's done."
Parnell started Jan. 1 and set out to run10,550 km to raise $250,000 for Right To Play, an organization that uses sports programs to improve the lives of disadvantaged children.
As of Friday morning, he has raised over $190,000 and hopes by the end of the day to cross the $200,000 mark. He plans to keep fundraising to reach the $250,000 goal.
In his quest, Parnell said he has gone through 25 pairs of runners and was laid up for two weeks with leg problems. He also developed repetitive stress injuries running with his backpack.
He said he also doubted himself along the way.
But he told CTV in an earlier interview that the charity and helping the kids was what kept him going.
He also credited his wife Sue Parnell with keeping him on track.
"I'm extremely proud of him," she said.
Parnell said he plans to take it easy in the next little while, but has already signed up to run in the Comrades Ultra Marathon in South Africa in May.
To find out more about Parnell's marathon, please visit his website.
