Relay across length of UK 'pretty brutal beast'
· Yahoo Sports
A man who is running the entire length of the UK in a continuous relay with his brother admits the challenge is "a pretty brutal beast".
Joe Pritchard, from Worcester, and sibling Alfie left John O'Groats six days ago and are due to arrive on Monday at Land's End, about 837 miles (1,497 km) away.
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Between them, they have been running 24 hours a day, with the goal being to raise £10,000 for veterans charity, Help for Heroes.
Joe, who described returning to Worcester on Saturday as "one of the high moments", said they had tried to have quicker changeovers to cope with the heat.
Asked what was the first thing he would do after completing the challenge in Cornwall, the runner replied he would have a "cold pint straight away, maybe a little cigarette".
"But, no, I'm just looking forward to waking up and not think 'oh wow, [I've] got to run', just being able to relax and do nothing."
Joe Pritchard, pictured while running in Worcester, said the week had been "a lot tougher than I thought it'd be" [BBC]Initially, they were running in shifts of half an hour each, before switching to blocks of two hours during the day and four hours at night.
While one was running, the other has been eating or sleeping in their camper van, driven by someone else.
Joe said the night shifts were "tricky to tackle, but we've got through plenty of them now".
Asked what was the most amount of sleep he had had, the Worcester resident replied it was "in one go probably about two hours 45, maybe three if we're lucky, but it's not real proper sleep".
Joe admitted the challenge was "a lot tougher than I thought it'd be, maybe that's very naive of me".
Temperatures were about 27C or 28C in Worcester and Joe said they had "tried [to] turn the shifts down to like quicker changeovers, at half an hour, 45 minutes, rather than an hour and a half".
"But I'm glad it's towards the end this heat and not at the start," he added.
The challenge continued in Worcester [BBC]Between them, the brothers have completed a number of physical challenges for charity, including last year when Joe ran on a treadmill non-stop for 24 hours.
In Worcester on Saturday, he said it "sort of feels like the finish line, even though we've got 427 kilometres to go".
He added it was "a massive boost [with] everyone coming out" and "having a bit of familiarity with the roads is great".
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