THE thought of running more than a few miles is enough to make most of us shudder and crawl back under the bed covers for an extra hour’s sleep.

But for Nathan Montague, a few miles is a mere hors d’oeuvre for his running appetite.

The 33-year-old Swindonian has just completed the Cotswold Way Century - an ultra-marathon of a staggering 102 miles starting in Chipping Campden and finishing in front of Bath Cathedral.

But not only did Montague complete the course, he came first and set a new course record, clocking a time of 19 hours and 31 minutes.

“To be honest I went off course a couple of times so I probably did about 110-112 miles,” Montague said.

The ultra-runner, who is hoping to compete at the ultra-trail race in Mont Blanc, an 168km event with about 9,600-metre climb, next August, had only just completed an 86-mile race prior to taking on the Cotswold Way competition.

“I didn’t really have time to train for this one,” he said. “Usually when you are doing such distances you reccy the course because you will be running at night.

“So I was running a little blind this time around and that was quite difficult.

“But I went really hard in the final 20 miles and was really pleased to have got the win.

“I’m hoping to get selected for the GB as well as getting enough points do the Mont Blanc race next year.”

Having started out running half-marathons and marathons, Montague soon found that he wanted to do a little more.

“With half-marathons and marathons, if you do the training then you are probably going to complete the race,” he said.

“With ultra-running you have that uncertainty, things may not go to plan. You get a sense of achievement of completing the course - you are always striving to go even better than before.”

But the biggest challenge for Montague is the number of running shoes he goes through. He has four pairs on the go at any one time.

“A pair of running shoes are supposed to last around 500 miles, if that was the case then I’d probably have to have a new pair every month,” he said.