Plucky Northampton marathon man completes 15 marathons before calling it quits

An army mechanic diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, who took on a supermarathon challenge, has been forced to call a halt due to muscle injury.

Twenty-four-year-old Josh Adam, from Duston, was just over half way through a fundraising challenge to run 26 miles in 26 days wearing a 26 pound metal vest to raise money for Crohn’s and Colitus UK charity.

All was going well, and he had successfully completed 14 marathons back to back around Northamptonshire and Lyneham.

But as he was running his fifteenth marathon around Church Brampton and Pitsford reservoir he felt an unusual pain above his right knee.

He said: “Everything had been going well until marathon 15 around Church Brampton and Pitsford Reservoir. It was the day we were expecting a heatwave and I’d woken up early at 5am to beat the heat.

"But 21 miles into the marathon, I was feeling a growing pain just above my knee, which wasn’t the usual muscle pain. My knee was swollen and wouldn’t bend properly. I had to walk to the end of this marathon.”

After completing the marathon on September 15th, he contacted a local sports injury clinic and was diagnosed with a suspected muscle tear and was sadly advised not to continue with the challenge.

The determined army man attempted to walk marathon 16 the following day but after only a few miles, he had to pull out.

He said: “I was gutted. I’d always said that if I couldn’t run it, I’d walk it but I had to be realistic. I knew I wasn’t going to finish that marathon.”

However even while recovering from his injury at his home in Duston, Josh is still smiling as he had bagged 14 marathons under his belt, and managed to raise £4100 for Crohn’s and Colitus UK charity.

The fitness fanatic who enjoys running marathons in his spare time, wants to attempt the 26, 26, 26 fundraising challenge a second time once he has had sufficient time to recover.

He added: “I think the challenge is safe and achievable as my body is highly conditioned from army training to run carrying weight. I’ve run many marathons before and in the army I’ve completed many weighted runs - we are conditioned to carry weight for several days at a time.”