Attempt to run fastest lap of Iceland 'feels mad'

Seb Key hopes to raise £50,000 for the charity Children With Cancer UK

A British man attempting to run the fastest ever lap of Iceland has said the amount of ground he has already covered "feels mad".

Seb Key, from Sherborne in Dorset, aims to run the 786 miles (1,265km) road that circles Iceland, and beat the previous record of 27 days.

Currently on day 10, the 25-year-old hopes to raise £50,000 for the charity Children With Cancer UK.

Mr Key and his family were supported by the charity whilst his sister Libby was treated for a brain tumour the "size of a plum" when she was 11 weeks old.

He said the amount he had already ran "feels mad", but added that there was "still a long way" to go.

Temperatures have regularly dipped below freezing during the challenge

"So far, it's been the most surreal feeling because it's every day taking my body to the point of not being able to walk or run," he said.

He has been running for more than eight hours a day in temperatures that often fall below freezing, and has already acquired a long list of injuries - including tenosynovitis in his feet, which means he cannot "pick up his foot on its own".

His team has been using elastic bands tied from the front of his laces to his shin to create an "artificial tendon" to pick up the front of his foot.

Mr Key has already acquired a few injuries on his challenge

Mr Key, who works for Children With Cancer UK, said he had been inspired to undergo the challenge by his younger sister Libby's story.

"These families, no matter how rubbish their days were before and how exhausted they are, they're still showing up," he said.

"There have been so many mornings already where everyone's exhausted, but we just think let's just show up, let's give it a go, and as long as we're trying our absolute hardest then we are doing right by them," he said.

Despite his injuries, Mr Key's team said he has found a "rhythm" and was on track to finish the challenge.