IRONMAN Dave Clamp has completed his most gruelling challenge — running 1,357 miles from London to Rome in just 30 days.

The 52-year-old braved extreme temperatures and lost more than a stone in weight as he ran up to 15 hours each day.

Mr Clamp, from Bromley Cross, joined forces with 39-year-old Alex Flynn, from Oxfordshire, who suffers from Parkinson's Disease.

Mr Flynn is aiming to raise £1 million for The Cure Parkinson’s Trust by completing 10 million metres, the equivalent of more than 6,000 miles by 2014.

The pair set off from London on June 10.

They ran to Dover before taking the ferry across the Channel.

Mr Flynn had to swap running for cycling when they got to Paris as the distance proved to be too much because it brought on chronic tendonitis in his legs. They arrived in Rome at 10am on Sunday, July 10.

Father-of-two Mr Clamp, who used to teach French and German at Tottington High School, said: “Going over the Alps was pretty hard. I started taking painkillers but when you run in severe heat it can have an effect on your kidneys and I had a stomach upset for five days.

“I couldn’t stop because of the schedule I had set. It is amazing just how the body adjusts. We finished at the Colosseum then went to the Circus Maximus. We had a few beers then left Rome for home four hours later.”

During the run Mr Clamp’s feet became infected from the heat and exercise. He had to pour surgical spirit over them to kill the infection. Mr Clamp said: “As the weather got so hot I developed the method of getting up at 2am and did about a marathon by the time the support team got to me at 8am.

“I have lost all of my muscle. I was 10st 9lbs and now I am 9st 6lbs.”

Mr Clamp, a personal trainer in Frodsham, Cheshire, is back at work and in training for 10 ironman races in 10 days in Sicily in September.

So far the men have raised £40,640. Visit justgiving.com/ Alex-Flynn