200 marathons done, just 200 to go for Shrewsbury-born Mark

Shrewsbury-born window cleaner Mark Vaz, who now lives in Penkridge, completed his 200th marathon in Telford on Saturday.

A record 462 runners took part in the 5km run at Telford Town Park.

He tweeted: "What a day finishing my marathon with so many friends. That's 200 down, 200 to go.

"Now that's done and dusted here's to the next 200."

Reaching the half-way milestone has not been easy for Mark, 32, who recently dislocated his shoulder.

The accident happened as he had set himself the challenge of a triple marathon in a day. If he completes his 400 marathons in a year, more than one a day, then he will become a record breaker as the current record for a year is 239.

To put the 400 marathons into context, he will end up running 10,488 miles, roughly the same distance as flying from London to Sydney.

Mr Vaz, who grew up in Shrewsbury after being adopted, described his challenge, which he started in July, 2015, as an 'emotional rollercoaster'.

Part of his 400th marathon challenge will see him return to his home town, where he will compete in the Shrewsbury Half Marathon on June 19.

He will also be running from Land's End to John O'Groats in March, which will see him having to cover 813 miles in nine days.

The grief of the six miscarriages suffered by his wife Tammy inspired him to tackle a marathon every day over the summer.

But, having reached his goal in style, he was still not satisfied, so he is now pursuing the dream of 400 marathons in 365 days.

Mark is raising money for Adoption UK.

He can be found on Twitter @400in365 and anyone who would like to sponsor him during his challenge can do so by visiting his Virgin Money Giving page – '400 marathons in 1 year'.