HE may have run 80 races in one year but for Adver editor Dave King, the Swindon Half Marathon was one of the most memorable.

Dave, 47, ran his first Swindon half in 2007 just after joining the Adver.

The race on October 14 was his 64th in just 10 months, bringing his running mileage up to 566.62 miles.

In the book about his adventure ‘Around The British Isles In 80 Races’, Dave admitted that he had no intention of adding Swindon to his already jam-packed schedule.

“However with a new job in the town it was hard to ignore the then Nationwide Swindon Half Marathon,” he said. “And with the Swindon Advertiser as one of the official sponsors there seemed to be no better way to explore the patch than to take part in one of its biggest events of the year.”

“My first thought was that this was going to be a fairly typical dreary town half. I was wrong.”

Dave completed the 13.1 mile race in 1hr 37mins, coming 140th out of 1,058 half marathon finishers.

“The Swindon Half Marathon is brilliantly organised,” he said. “There was loads of car parking to the south of the town and thanks to the council the whole route was closed to traffic. It was a superb event. No cars chucking out exhaust fumes while impatient drivers try to muscle their way past a gaggle of runners.

“The route is not without its challenges but is very enjoyable. The atmosphere is unbeatable and no matter at what stage of running you are the atmosphere will spur you on.”