Two down, five to go as Shropshire paralysed adventurer conquers continents on marathon effort
A paralysed adventurer from Shropshire has completed two marathons as part of his World Marathon Challenge of seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.
Darren Edwards conquered Antarctica on Tuesday before heading off across the south Atlantic to Cape Town in South Africa for the third part of his mission to raise anther £80,000 for the Armed Forces Para-Snowboard Team (AFPST).
But Darren revealed that it has become even more of a tough task after "logistical challenges" on his flight from Cape Town to Australia. He will have to complete five marathons over five continents in four days to be able to complete it in a week.
He said; "Five marathons over five continents in four days is going to be intense.
"But the mission is to complete the challenge and to raise £80,000 for the brilliant charity."
Darren, from Shrewsbury, said the marathon in Antarctica was the most challenging five hours and 50 minutes of his life.
He said he was "battling high winds, freezing temperatures, 500m of ascent, and snow drifts".
But on social media he said it was also the "most rewarding 5hrs 50mins of my life experiencing the raw beauty and majesty of the world’s most southerly continent, Antarctica.
"Even if just for a day, I feel so incredibly fortunate to have set foot - or ‘set wheels’ - on Earth’s great white continent."
In South Africa on day two, Wednesday, he went to a hot and windy Cape Town.
"A hot and windy marathon in Cape Town today, but a finishing time of time of 2hours and 48minutes gave me the honour of crossing the finish line first, probably the first time I’ve ‘won’ anything in my life, but most importantly super happy that my body is holding up and injury free after an intense two days in Antarctica and now Africa," he posted.
Darren was paralysed from the chest down in a near-fatal accident in 2016, falling 30ft during a rock climb.
He took up campaigning as a way of proving assessments of his abilities were wrong and of inspiring others.
Before leaving for his demanding challenge he said: "I hope that I can provide a bit of reassurance and inspiration to anyone who was told they won't be able to do anything."
The team is heading to Perth in Western Australia for the next one in the 777 challenge.
That will be followed by Dubai, Madrid, south America, and finishing off at Miami, in the USA on February 6.
Darren said: "Thank you so much for all of your support and kind messages - it means the world and I am so sorry if I don’t get the chance to respond!"
You can follow Darren's incredible marathon journey on Instagram @DarrenEdwards_adventurer
His JustGiving crowdfunding page is at justgiving.com/fundraising/darrenworldmarathonchallenge.
