One local hero has run 1,000 miles in 32 days; that’s 31 miles a day; completing over 38 marathons, and burning hundreds of thousands of calories.

Justin Lord from Launceston has overcome blisters and battled every weather condition up and down the country to raise money for charity, and to show people that anything is possible.

He has been no stranger to a challenge and despite the odds he has been able to raise thousands for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Supporters labelled him as ‘one of the most incredible people they have ever met’, and from this journey alone you can see why. The 43-year-old started his journey from Launceston Castle on March 18 heading up past Bristol, across into Wales and then up the road to Manchester, before getting to his half-way destination of Edinburgh Castle. He then headed back down the same route returning home on April 18.

Justin explained that this mammoth journey all started with him wanting the change how people live their lives.

He said: “People have got arms and legs, they have time and money, they have their families and support around them. They’ve got everything. People go through life and put limits on themselves. No-one else does, people just make up their own excuses.

“Then on the other hand you have these critical illnesses, those who I ran for (Make-A-Wish Foundation) they would give up anything to have what these people have.”

Justin explained that he wanted to teach people that they can do anything, if they put their mind to it — putting the cliché into reality. Justin even admitted that he can’t stand running. He said: “I actually hate it! I find it boring and hard, plus it’s not great for your body — as I found out!

“You honestly can do anything you want, the only thing stopping you is that ‘thing’ between your ears.

“Some of these kids at Make-A-Wish just want one day to do something, just the chance to dress-up as their favourite character or to go away to Lapland — just really simple things that we all might take for granted.”

Justin, who is a personal fitness coach in physical and mental well-being and a former Royal Marine Commando, currently has over 15,000 followers on Instagram and he felt the support across the country.

He said: “The support I had was unbelievable! The run was actually bringing people together. I had people, who I hadn’t seen in over 20 years drive 400 miles just to watch me run past!”

Justin believed the reason for the terrific support and the public willing him over the line was due to him being able to ‘resonate with people’.

He said: “I think people believed in me from the start. I released a video just before I embarked on the 1,000 miles explaining the sorts of things I had been through in my life, from a career in the marines, suffering from PTSD and other life challenges. I’ve been through a lot.

“I think going public with my past helped a lot of people realise that anything is possible!”

Justin did 1,474,316 steps during his journey and he summed it up in one word, ‘horrendous’.

Although he had a support crew along the way, they would only pick him up in the evening and drop him to the exact spot he finished the following morning.

He said: “I can honestly say the mornings were the worst.”

Justin told the Post that his support team would tell him each morning that he was ‘procrastinating’, as it would take him at least 20 minutes to walk from his support van to the shower. He would often seize up during his sleep and suffer from various pains in his achilles, ankles, knees and hips — just to name a few.

Justin said: “It took a lot to get started, I just had to accept that this was the pain I was going to be in during the day and get on with it! I don’t take painkillers normally, but I had to every day just to get going.”

Justin truly believes that it is all down to the mindset, which is what carried him through to the end. He explained that the key element to anything is to look back from the bigger picture, not to think about the journey in its entirety, but to take each day as it comes.

He said: “The best thing to do is to focus on what’s in front of you and then to break it down into smaller steps. If I had gone out each day thinking of the mammoth task that lay ahead of me, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

The main focus for Justin was thinking of why he wanted to do it; the desire to change perceptions and to help such a worthy cause. He said: “Having the want and a reason is every

thing. If someone wanted to lose weight but didn’t take any enjoyment in it, they would struggle. But for me, having such a worthy cause made each step a tiny bit easier.”

He also explained that promoting his run on social media meant failure wasn’t an option, adding: “With everyone getting behind me, I had an expectation to get it done. So there was no way I could give up.”

Despite Justin evidently having the fitness and the mindset to complete a challenge like this, the human body can often buckle under the excessive strain the mileage can have. Nearing the halfway stage Justin had to go to hospital due to chronic pain in his shins and was told by doctors to quit his challenge, as he had suffered from a stress fracture — educed by the running.

Despite the professional advice, Justin chose to carry on. He played tribute to his plant-based diet, which according to Justin, gave him an edge. He said: “I’ve seen marines pull-out after 30 miles having stress fractures. These guys were fuelled on meats and dairy. Despite my injury I knew I wasn’t putting anything harmful back into my body, meaning I wasn’t going to give myself any health issues.”

He explained that his plant-based diet meant that his overall nutrition intake went through the roof — helpful considering the 151,670 calories he expended over the run.

Justin said: “It was nothing special, some ‘Bol’ meals from the supermarket, plenty of nutritious smoothies containing proteins, berries, kale and hemp. They were easily digestible and nutritious. The smoothies — much different to juicing — stays in your body, which was the perfect meal during breaks.”

During the first week Justin completed a long ‘slogging’ distance before taking a break, in the first day he even completed 43 miles! However, as he went further into his challenge, he would stop every 10 miles or so, to refuel on a smoothie and to check his injuries.

Justin, now nurturing said injuries, admitted he wouldn’t be going on a treadmill anytime soon — understandably — but has resumed some ‘lighter training’ in the gym, athough he still wakes at night with pains in his body from the challenge.

Following on from his journey, Justin has so far managed to raise over £4,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and he hopes this number will continue to rise.

He added: “Anyone can do it. Anyone can do anything! All it takes is the right attitude and the possibilities are truly endless.”

You can still donate to Justin’s page by visiting www.justgiving.com/fundraising/justin-lord