It's a 40th birthday celebration that he'll never forget.
David Shearan spent the day running one mile for every year of his life, taking him from Sycamore Gap back to his home in Hebburn.
The warehouse manager said he had been "dreading" turning 40. But the day turned out to be extra special and he was able to raise over £1,000 for mental health charity, Mind.
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David said: "I was dreading turning 40 but it was actually not that bad in the end because of the challenge.
"I know not everyone is lucky enough to be able to do something like that so I'm thankful. It was a great way to mark the day and I'm so pleased I went ahead with it."
David completed the challenge on Thursday, March 30, which was the day of his 40th birthday. He set off from the Twice Brewed Inn, in Hexham, where he had been staying at 9am that morning and finished the challenge at around 6.40pm.
He added: "I think the total moving time was about six-and-a-half hours, excluding breaks. It was pretty decent pace, in running speak it was just over 10 minute mile, which was brilliant.
"I've always done challenges and aimed to do one big one a year for the last 15 years, whether that's running or cycling. It's become part of my identity to do these type of things and I knew this time last year with my 40th coming up that I was going to try and mark it in a special way, something that could be unique.
"So I thought I'm going to try and run 40 miles in a day."
The idea for the challenge was inspired by someone David met at his running club when he lived in Ireland. A fellow member had pledged to run 30 miles for her 30th birthday.
And although David didn't get round to the challenge on his 30th birthday, 10 years later he decided to put the idea to action.
David said: "When my 40th came around I thought I'm going to do it. I plotted the route and just went for it. I tried to think of an applicable charity that I hadn't done anything for previously and I thought it was pretty fitting that I chose Mind, the mental health charity, and the donations started rolling in.
"It was pretty special and in the end it all worked out OK. My body held up alright, although it started hurting towards the end I had a lot of support from my friends who jogged me over the line and got me home safe."
David said he didn't want to "put anyone out" by asking friends to take time off work to join him in the challenge. However, one of his friends, Michael McNally, and his wife offered to drive along the route with supplies to support him on along the way.
Michael, from Gateshead, has worked as an actor and featured in TV series including ITV's Coronation Street, Heartbeat and The Bill, as well as films such as The Day After Tomorrow and The Cops.
And he met David 17 miles into the challenge at Bywell, in Northumberland, and shared Facebook Lives on his page throughout the day, which showed him interviewing David about the challenge.
David added: "It was great the way he did it and he got a lot of coverage from it. It's him I should be thankful for for getting so many donations."
David estimates that when he left the hotel that morning, his fundraising page had a balance of around £400. But by the time he had finished the challenge the total have rocketed to £1,100.
It's one of many huge challenges that David has completed and he estimates that he has raised around £10,000 for charity through taking on challenges through the years.
His first large challenge was a bike ride from Malin Head to Mizen Head in Ireland in 2007 which he completed to raise funds for Marie Curie, whose nurses helped to care for his grandma before she passed away in 2005. And he has gone on to do a number of huge challenges, including cycling from Glasgow to Lisbon in 2017 to raise money for Northern Ireland based charity Children in Crossfire.
In January 2022, on what would have been his dad's 70th birthday, David also walked the length of Hadrian's Wall over four days. The walked helped to raise £1,200 for the British Heart Foundation in memory of his dad.
And has no plans to stop just yet and is already thinking about possible future challenges.
David said: "There's a few things I'd like to do. I'd like to do Malin to Mizen again, but on foot other than on a bike. And there's a few local things I've always fancied doing. I wanted to get in touch with the Metro and try to run all of the stations for Children in Need."
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