CITY of Salisbury running club’s Phil Perry completed his 12 month marathon odyssey at Walton on Thames when he crossed the line in the final race on his schedule, clocking 3hours 54 mins for a top-20 placing despite accumulated fatigue, writes John Ruskin.

This was his 18th marathon in a year that featured not only 2mile events but also the 50k Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1 and an endurance race of 100kms.

Not previously a long distance running specialist, he set himself the tough challenge a year ago to raise funds for Julia’s House children’s hospices at Devizes and Poole.

"I wanted to raise funds for the work this organisation does with children and their families who are reliant on charitable support for help when they need it most,” said Phil. He is well on the way to passing the £2,000 mark through Just Giving.

Meanwhile at cross country, top road runner Aaron Wilson has been selected to run for Wiltshire in the south west inter counties championships at Yeovil on Sunday where the going is already expected to be very soft.

Also in the line up are Salisbury’s Guy Mitchell and Lukas Bailey in the under 13’s, Nile Battey in the under 15’s, Henry Dix in the under 17’s, Bea Wood in the under 15’s girls and Louise Webb in the under 17 girls.