A British athlete has completed 100 marathons in 100 days - breaking the world record for the most consecutive 26-mile runs.
Kate Jayden, 35, challenged herself to complete the 2,620-mile challenge in just over three months.
The current record for the most consecutive marathons stands at 95 of the long-distance runs across 95 days - but Kate beat this achievement earlier this month as she surpassed her 96th day.
While securing the world record is an incredible achievement, this wasn’t the main goal for Kate, who originally set out to run the distance between the UK and Syria in a bid to raise awareness of the perilous journey undertaken by hundreds of refugees every day.
The passage between the city of Aleppo in northern Syria and Dover, Kent - which is the most common route taken by migrants travelling to Britain - is around 2569 miles.
Kate utilised her skills as an endurance athlete to raise money for The Refugee Council by asking people to sponsor her to run this distance.
But after realising how close the journey comes to the length of 100 marathons, the compliance consultant from the Peak District decided she’d attempt to beat the world record at the same time.
Kate said: “Every year I try to do something off-the-scale to raise money for charity.
“I’d already planned to run the distance from Aleppo to Dover to get people talking about refugees and what they’re going through, then it dawned on me how close it was to doing 100 marathons.
“It’s blown my mind that I’ve achieved this now.
“I’m absolutely overwhelmed at having surpassed the world record.”
Kate started her challenge on New Year’s Eve last year - getting up at 4.30am every day to run a full marathon before commuting to Manchester where she works.
She added: “For the first six weeks I was running 26 miles every day in the darkness.
“I live in the Peak District so there’s no light pollution - it was literally pitch black - and the weather was really grim.”
Unfortunately, Kate suffered a setback just over a month into the challenge when she injured her knee.
Determined not to give up, she purchased a treadmill and started walking the distance, which took six hours every day.
The added time meant she could no longer complete the marathons before leaving for work in the mornings.
But Kate finished her 100th marathon on Sunday after completing the Brighton Marathon.
On crossing the finish line, the 35-year-old, said: “I’m feeling geriatric mostly.
“I was just overwhelmed. I feel very privileged that I was able to take that journey and so many people have been in touch to say they have been inspired by it too.
“The mental grit and tenacity has got me through and to pick myself up and go again each day.
“My motto throughout has been ‘don’t let anybody ever tell you that you can’t make a difference’.”
Kate has now submitted an application for the most consecutive marathons run by one person to the Guinness World Records.
The current record is held by US runner, Alyssa Clark, who completed 95 marathons in 95 consecutive days.
