AN ENDURANCE athlete yesterday began a challenge to set a new world record for the longest TV marathon.

Mike Buss will attempt to watch DVDs back-to-back on a sofa at the Swindon Designer Outlet, aiming to finish on Saturday.

“This is going to be my toughest challenge yet,” said the 38-year-old.

“I have run across the Sahara and the Arctic, run a marathon every day for 100 days and stayed awake running on a treadmill for seven days. But staying on a sofa, there is always the chance that you will drop off, whereas before I was always keeping active.”

Mike, who is being supported by companies at the shopping centre, has stocked up on energy drinks and will get a 10-minute toilet break between DVDs.

“It will be a relief to finish it,” he said.

“I’m a bit of a film buff and this combines my two loves of movies and endurance sport, but I don’t think I will enjoy watching films by the end. In fact, I might not ever want to watch TV again.”

Mike aims to beat the current record of five days and 21 minutes by one day.

He is raising money for Sport Relief, and has named the challenge the Not So Sport Relief Challenge.

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/MikeBussSPORT-RELIEF-Challenge