High Peak runner completes marathon 273km journey across USA desert

Ian Dalton, of Thornbrook Road in Chapel-en-le-Frith, took part in the 273km Grand to Grand Ultra race through the Utah and Arizona deserts, and had driven to Las Vegas on Sunday.

He said: “I’m so lucky as it could have been a very different story, but thankfully I had been walking along The Strip earlier. I heard the sirens, but there are so many in America you just tend to block them out.

“It was only when I got back to the hotel that I realised what had happened and how serious it was. I stayed watching the news channels all night.”

The marathon was broken up into different stages, and on day three Ian slipped and twisted his ankle and back.

The 56-year-old said: “Pain is only temporary, bodies will heal and there was no way I was giving up. I didn’t go there to quit.”

He said the stunning views were like nothing else he had ever seen.

“I woke up to beautiful sunrises where I could see for miles on end, so the wet and gloomy drizzle now I’m back in the UK isn’t something I’ve missed.”

Ian was running for Blythe House Hospice. To donate, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/ian-dalton3.