Just 3 years after suffering a near fatal brain injury, Paul Spence set himself the challenge of completing 4 marathons in 4 days around the island of Ibiza in May 2015 to raise awareness and funds for his pioneering PAUL For Brain Recovery charity.
Together with my fellow running guide Jonny Lee from the Last Night a DJ Saved My Life charity, we assisted Paul in realising his dream, planning the routes, running with him and co-ordinating with his wonderful support team.
So running 26.2 miles (42km) each day for 4 days is a hard enough task to set yourself, right? Well, from a runner's perspective, there were other factors which made this challenge even tougher. For instance - Ibiza is a surprisingly hilly island! On days 1 and 2, we ascended and descended a total of approx 4000m (14,000ft), which is equivalent in elevation terms to running up and down Mount Snowden each day. Added to which much of our route was on trails - as Paul's training had mainly been on the relatively flat roads around his home town of Hull, the uneven nature of the surface made running even more difficult.
I have so much respect for Paul - he's an exceptionally brave and positive guy. This challenge was a tremendous experience for us all and one which I will never forget - bring on the next challenge!!