A man who has run 99 marathons will be using this month’s Human Race along the Thames in Kingston as training for his toughest challenge yet – a marathon in Antarctica.

Gary van Vuuren, from Kingston, ran his first marathon in his native South Africa in 1990, and found cheap flights from England made it easier to travel around the world when he moved to the UK eight years ago.

He said: “I like running and seeing the world, so I thought why not combine the two. "It was my way of seeing the world as well.

“I did not start off trying to run 100 marathons, but when I got to 85 I decided to try for 100.”

His travels have seen him race as far away as Madagascar, Greenland, Brazil and Australia and a downhill race from the Everest base camp in 2003 unusually saw him gain more energy the further he ran because the amount of oxygen in the air increased as he descended.

The 16-mile and 8.2-mile Human Races, on Sunday, October 10, start in Kingston Market Square and follow Mr van Vuuren’s standard weekend training course.

He said: “It is not one of the most exotic races I have done, but it is one of my favourites.”

The annual Antarctic race, which is limited to 20 competitors, will take place on December 12 and, although it will be summer, participants have been warned to expect temperatures as low as -18 degrees centigrade.

Mr van Vuuren has pledged to hang up his spikes after completing what will be his 100th marathon on his seventh continent.