Martin Bulger shows no sign of reaching the end of the road - despite completing 140 marathons.

The veteran athlete has clocked up thousands of miles since he ran his first race over the distance 30 years ago.

The 58-year-old has competed in marathons in Dublin, the Isles of Scilly and France as well as a mammoth 145-mile, 39-hour non-stop run from Birmingham to London along the Grand Union Canal towpath.

The Seaford teacher has put his experiences into print with the release of his book Living Makes You Run Longer.

He said it was an exploration of the mind of a marathon runner and an attempt to find out why people put themselves through the pain barrier to complete the energy-sapping events.

Mr Bulger, who teaches design technology at Newlands School, Seaford, said: "The book is an attempt to get to the bottom of the myth.

"Shortly after I did my 100th marathon I started to think, Why do I do it?' Often when I was in the middle of a run I would chat to other runners who couldn't really say why they were doing it either.

"I did my first marathon in 1978 and I can't even remember why I did it. I'm not sure there was a reason. I didn't do my next one until 1982.

"If you look at the London Marathon last Sunday, there were 35,000 runners. I think no more than half a dozen of them stood a serious chance of winning, so what were the rest of them doing there? I think people see the races as personal challenges."

Despite completing 140 marathons, seven ultramarathons and more than 1,000 other long-distance races, Mr Bulger has no plans to hang up his running shoes.

He said: "It isn't a case of I can't give up but simply that I don't want to. I would run every day if I could.

"There are so many more attractive marathons out there still to run, like the Antarctic Marathon and the Hawaiian Marathon, but I can only run as many as I can afford."

While writing the book Mr Bulger contacted many famous names who have put themselves through the challenge.

GMTV presenter Lorraine Kelly has contributed to the book and model Nell McAndrew has given her support to the project.

Mr Bulger said: "I think the worst moment I had was when I did a marathon in Salisbury about 15 years ago when the temperature reached 100F. I got lost on Salisbury Plain and had to ask a farmer where I was.

"It turned out I wasn't even on the map. I managed to make it to a pub car park where I had a drink and carried on until the finish. I've finished every marathon I have entered."

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