Race director hopes to 'bring smiles to people's faces'

Paul Breen said that the Backyard-Ultra is a 'twist' on the ultra-marathon

A race where participants run four miles every hour until the last competitor drops out starts later in Gloucestershire.

The Breakheart Backyard Ultra, run by Gert Lush Events, is a "twist" on an ultra marathon.

Competitors will continue to run the same distance every hour until there is only one runner standing.

Race Director Paul Breen said: "It's about people that go outside their comfort zone and if that's one lap those are the people we want to get."

The concept of Backyard Ultras were invented by Lazarus Lake, who founded The Barkley Marathons in the U.S.

"He was walking around and doing a 4.1-mile loop and he decided to see how many times he could do it, and thus the idea of backyard was born," Mr Breen said.

"They've become really popular around the world."

Saturday's Backyard Ultra will be the first in Gloucestershire.

Mr Breen and participants at the finish live of another Gert Lush event

Mr Breen told the BBC that he started the events company to help his mental health after leaving the armed forces.

He said: "I just couldn't adjust, I just couldn't go back to civilian street.

"It led me to gain a lot of weight and became very withdrawn from the world.

"It culminated with me traveling to Snowden and when I got to the top I flipped a coin - heads I was going to jump off and tails I was going to come back down and give it six months of everything I could do to improve my life.

"Luckily it landed on tails and I headed back down and the next day went for a run.

"I hadn't felt that good in months so I decided to keep running and I did bigger and better events.

"Now becoming a race director and putting on events, our main goal is to put smiles on people's faces," he said. "And that's our only goal - to improve the lives of people around us."

Paul and Lazarus Lake who founded the Backyard-Ultra in America

The route, located in the Cotswold countryside, will follow a mixed trail path consisting of around 560ft elevation gain per lap.

There are currently 131 people signed up for the race and race director hopes it will last 48 hours.

Mr Breen said: "I believe the record in America is five days which is absolutely insane."

Gert Lush put on other events such as The Berkeley Marathon, The Dozen Dips, The 12Ks of Christmas and the 50km Canal and River Run.

Participants have been asked to bring a food bank item to every race, and the full proceeds of The Berkeley Marathon will be donated to charity.