Meet the Worthing runner who completed 64 marathons in a year - and ironman triathlon in Italy

The 53 year-old sports-mad company director from Worthing shares his love of long-distance running with wife Nikki and younger brother Jonathon.

Darren explains: “Both are following in my footsteps. Nikki is training for her first ‘novice’ triathlon in Eastbourne next June and Jonathon takes part in triathlons too.

“Both my parents also like sport. My father John loves cycling and mum Yvonne is super-fit as well.”

Darren will also be taking part in the 2024 London Marathon on behalf of Herts MS Therapy Centre.

“I met the charity’s ‘Mr Marathon’ David Lewis at my local gym in 2019 and caught the running bug from him,” Darren said.

"We have been friends ever since and have been challenging each other to take on more and more sporting events.”

For instance – over the past couple of years – Darren and David decided to try and complete 52 marathons in as many weeks.

Darren said: “By March 2022 we were on target but decided to up the ante and ran 12 marathons in as many days by running from Worthing to Scarborough, covering and average distance of 30 miles a day.

“By the end of that 12-month period we had both completed the equivalent of 64 marathons/ultras together.”

That breathtaking achievement was more than matched when Darren ran 100km around the Isle of Wight in 11 hours this April.

“And this September I completed my first Ironman triathlon in Italy which took me just over 12 hours.”

Darren and David, who has run over 900 marathons, run with an informal group of runners of all abilities called DL Runners, named after David. Darren also runs with Worthing Striders as well as finding time to cycle and support his local football team Brighton & Hove Albion.

If you would like to run and raise money for the centre, there are a few places available to take part in the 2024 London Marathon on Sunday April 21. Please contact Paul Bishop on 07973 237162.

Hertfordshire Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre is a Letchworth-based charity that has been providing Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for the past 35 years. It’s a complementary therapy that can help some people with a wide range of conditions, including MS, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, ME, fibromyalgia, sleep apnoea, leg ulcers and soft tissue sports injuries. It has also helped people recover from Long Covid.

For more information on Herts MS Therapy Centre, call: 01462 684214, or e-mail: [email protected].