A MAN has completed his mission to be the first to run from Asia to England.

Russell Cook set himself the challenge to run a marathon every day for 70 days between Istanbul and London.

But the 22-year-old beat his target managing to complete a staggering 73 marathons in 68 days, ending up in his home town Worthing where he reunited with friends and family last night.

In the last few days of his challenge, Russell was due to row across the English Channel to complete his marathon miles.

But due to the bad weather, he was advised to take the ferry.

Determined to keep his body moving, Russell bought a treadmill to install on the ferry so that he could keep the steps going across the Channel.

“It’s just been an incredible experience,” he said.

“I actually feel OK. There have been some pretty tough experiences along the way, the worst was probably the first when I was caught in a serious, unexpected thunderstorm in Turkey.

“That was really intense. All my stuff was soaked, I was freezing and the thunder was like nothing else. It made me realise just how powerful and unstoppable nature is.”

Russell ran from Turkey, through Bulgaria into Serbia and then across Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, France and on to London.

“There have been some incredible moments as well,” he said.

“When I was in Belgium I was knackered, and not in the best way. My phone was broken, but my mates drove all the way from Worthing to Belgium to track me.

“Because the tracker on my phone wasn’t working, they gave up and thought there was no chance they could find me.

“As they were leaving they saw me sitting, having a rest in a bus stop. I didn’t even notice they went past I was so out of it.

“It was the biggest pick-me-up moment I think of the trip.”

Russell, who was called “the mad dude with a ginger beard” on his travels, had only run the Brighton Marathon before he decided to launch into this mass multi-marathon challenge.

Given the success of his multi-country excursion, he is looking to do more running adventures.

He decided to run for The Running Charity, an organisation that use running to improve the lives of 16 to 25 year-olds who are homeless or at risk of homelessness across the UK.