He will set out at 9pm on Friday November 12th 2021 and run throughout the night with the aim of completing the challenge no later than 3pm Saturday November 13th 2021.
A tough training schedule over recent weeks has seen him lose a stone and half in weight as he prepares to run the equivalent of nearly two and three-quarter non-stop marathons.
Chris, who served in the Coldstream Guards for 15 years, has launched a campaign he calls Community Charity Challenge to complete extreme events to raise cash for good causes.
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His first is to complete the 70-mile course by running three laps of a circular course taking in his home town of Honiton and the villages of Dunkeswell and Ottery St Mary.
On the final lap of the course, Chris will be joined by other local runners to help urge him on to the finishing line.
Chris has been building up his training, taking advice from an experienced Royal Marines fitness instructor along the way, so he can keep up the challenging pace for the Remembrance weekend run.
He says: “Even the Royal Marine PT instructor said this was a big challenge. I’m not sure if that encourages me or does the opposite! But there’s no backing out now. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.
“Training has been going well, thanks to some very early mornings and late evenings putting in the miles. I’ve had some injuries to contend with but I’m on track to set out on the challenge as planned.”
SafeGroup is helping fund the challenge, which Chris hopes will raise at least £4,000, to be shared by the Royal British Legion, which is celebrating its centenary, and the Devon Air Ambulance Trust.
Many businesses in the local area are supporting the fundraising drive, including Bruv’s Bar in Honiton, and the local Tesco store which allowed Chris to spend a day asking shoppers for donations.
Chris, aged 46, is dedicating his fundraising effort to his brother, Mark, who served in the British Army in the Royal Corps of Transport in the First Gulf War in 1991.
Mark became chronically ill after the war and died in August 2016. Chris says his brother had been one of an estimated 250,000 veterans who contracted Gulf War Syndrome, the cause of which is still being researched.
Chris says he plans to attempt more challenges under the Community Charity Challenge banner, with specific events selected, helped by family, friends and supporters – and he hopes others will join future fundraising efforts.
