DOUGIE Tobutt ran his first marathon in Bolton in 1981, but 24 years later is now on the verge of reaching his greatest milestone.

On June 26, the Bolton runner will line up in Rio de Janiero for his 100th marathon, a feat many thought he would never achieve.

An asthma sufferer with a history of hip and back problems, Dougie should hardly be running down to the corner shop, never mind tackling 26 miles.

But such was his determination to prove he could not only lead a normal life, but tackle long distance racing as well, that his marathon career just ran . . . and ran . . . and ran.

"They said 20 years ago when I was diagnosed damaged hips that I wouldn't be able to run, but here we are, ready to make it a century," he said.

The Bolton sports shop owner almost failed to make it after nearly pulling out of his 99th race in Liendon, Holland recently.

"That was a tough one, The conditions didn't help my asthma and I was tempted to drop out, but there were no hills which would have really tested me so I just made sure I got round."

His time in the event was unimportant, and that applies to many of the races he competes in these days.

"Marathon running now is first of all a challenge to get round the course, then an excuse to travel and to see the world," said 55-year-old Dougie.

"When I run in Rio, I will have completed marathons in 37 countries, and the only continent left that I haven't covered is Antartica.

"And that might be on the agenda because an American firm organises marathons there every couple of years. Apparently you go to Buenos Aires and then go on by ship down to Antartica.

"It sounds interesting, but we'll have to wait and see."

In that first Bolton marathon, Dougie covered the distance in 4hrs 5minutes. A year later, he did the second Bolton marathon and knocked an hour off the time.

"To be honest, I never trained for the first one, but I made sure I was prepared for the next one.

"And my fastest time, 3hr-03, was achieved in one of the toughest events, the Potteries marathon."

Having run so many marathons all over the world, Dougie has his favourites.

"The one I really enjoyed was the Gold Coast marathon in Australia, mainly because I met up with some old friends from over there that I hadn't seen for quite a time and it was just a memorable time.

"I also enjoyed the one in Moscow, even though the temperature was in the high eighties.

"Everything just went well and where I ended up having my photograph in the Russian newspaper Pravda. I think the caption was something about the mad Englishman going out in the midday sun.

"The worst one was probably the Tresco marathon on the Scilly Isles.

"Before deciding to run, I asked if there were any hills on the course. I was told there were only three, so I decided to do it.

"When got there I discovered the route was seven laps of the island, and that meant a total of 21 hills. Never again."

As well as his personal enjoyment, Dougie's efforts have also benefited several charities over the years.

And that is also the case with Dougie's centenary marathon when he hopes to raise funds for St Annes Hospice and Peter Catterall's charity for Christie Hospital.