Athlete who completed endurance challenge in wheelchair returns to UK

Darren Edwards said he slept the whole flight from Miami to London.

Darren Edwards (centre) with his fiancee, TJ, and friend, Carl Simmons (Carl Simmons/PA)

The first person to ever complete the World Marathon Challenge in a wheelchair has returned to the UK after running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.

Darren Edwards completed the races in Antarctica, Cape Town, Perth, Dubai, Madrid, Fortaleza and Miami in a week from January 31, making history in the process.

Mr Edwards, 32, was paralysed from the chest down in a climbing accident in Snowdonia in 2017 but has since learned to ski, kayaked from Land’s End to John O’Groats and now plans to ski across Europe’s largest glacier in Iceland in April.

I feel pretty exhausted, the last three days were really tough

Darren Edwards

Mr Edwards, from Shrewsbury in Shropshire, landed at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5 early on Thursday morning along with his fiancee, TJ, another friend and Carl Simmons, who provided fitness and logistical support during and before the trip.

Speaking after landing, he said: “I feel pretty exhausted, the last three days were really tough.

“You’re running on less and less energy, day by day.

“The final marathon was so incredible, to know that it was coming to an end, I found a new lease of energy.

“I slept the whole flight back from Miami to Heathrow.”

The challenge, which started in 2015, saw 40 people from across the world take part, with the only time available to sleep and eat on the flights between continents.

Mr Edwards, previously an Army reservist for two years, completed the first race, at Novo, a Russian air base in Antarctica, in five hours and 50 minutes in temperatures of minus 20 and winds of up to 60mph, but completed the last in Miami in just two-and-a-half hours.

He said on Wednesday that he wanted to show others in his position that great things could still be achieved despite the accident, adding: “I didn’t want to be a different person just because I’m in a wheelchair.”

During the challenge, he raised around £50,000 for the Armed Forces Para-Snowsport Team, the charity which helped teach Mr Edwards to ski after his accident.

He said: “The hardest of the seven was definitely Antarctica, we had winds of up to 70mph, it was so cold and it took five hours and 50 minutes to do the marathon.

“At times I was crawling along, people were walking quicker going into that wind.

“My favourite was Cape Town, along the promenade with Table Mountain in the background, so iconic and so beautiful, with the ocean off to your left and right. That was very special.”

Mr Edwards will now begin planning his next challenge, skiing across Europe’s largest glacier later this year, spanning 150km.

He will complete the feat with former professional rugby player and TV presenter Ed Jackson, who suffered a fracture dislocation of two neck vertebrae in 2017, and Niall McCann, who also has a spinal injury.

“In April I’ll be joining two other athletes with spinal injuries and we’ll be crossing Europe’s biggest glacier on skis.

“It turns out seven marathons in seven days is great training.”