The Sun.co.uk
Ironing Man
Brit runs 155-miles with board on back
Pressed for time … Paul ran equivalent of six marathons in six days
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SUPER-FIT Brit Paul Roberts puts the iron into Iron Man – completing the world’s toughest endurance race with a 5KG board strapped to his back.
The 45-year-old went flat out in searing 50 degree heat to finish the 155-mile Marathon des Sables across Morocco.
It worked out as the equivalent of a marathon every day for SIX days.
Company boss Paul, from Ockeridge, Worcs, finished in an impressive 364th place – beating more than half of the 860-strong field.
Extreme … Paul does a bit of ironing in the Sahara
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And he raised more than £6000 for charity – as well as losing a stone in weight in the gruelling process.
The dad-of-two took on the challenge after a dare from pals who had been looking at an ‘Extreme Ironing’ website.
He said: “I wanted to do something different and I just thought ’I bet no one else has ironed in the Sahara’ and the idea just went from there.
“A lot of the guys really didn’t want to get beaten by the bloke carrying an ironing board around.
“But people do see that you are putting yourself out and I eventually got lots of support on the course.
“The other athletes were expecting me to give them a rational answer as to why I was doing it but there isn’t really one.
Gruelling … temperatures hit 50 degrees
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“It’s all about doing something extreme and taking pictures of yourself ironing in unusual locations.
“It really makes no more sense than that.”
Paul was awarded a special ’Most Extreme Competitor’ certificate for his efforts, which raised money for St Richard’s Hospice in Worcester, and The Children’s Society.
He added: “I’m sure I’ll do some more but I’ll have to square it with the wife first.”
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