Running the Triangle Challenge shouldn’t prove to be too much of a problem for Alan Brock, after all he ran from Austin, Texas to Pikes Peak in Colorado in 40 days.

And he has also run the gruelling Pikes Peak Marathon, which is arguably the toughest marathon in the world.

The 53-year-old who now lives in Ouray, Colorado, said he ran his first marathon back in 1980. That was the Dallas White Rock Marathon in Dallas, Texas.

“I ran from 1980 until 1992,” he said. And then he stopped running completely. Not surprisingly his health also began to go downhill.

“After a marathon in 1992 I quit running and began to gain weight. By October of 2004 I weighed 287 pounds on a 5ft 10in frame. It was then I took on a special diet and by August of 2005 I had lost 100 pounds and completed the gruelling Pikes Peak marathon,” he said.

In the summer of 2007 he ran his greatest race of all, from Austin to Pikes Peak.

“I ran on average about 23 miles a day. My youngest son had a dream he shared of me doing the run. I said to him that sounds like a great adventure so we made it happen,” he said.

There were obstacles and testing times during those 40 days, but Brock said the greatest obstacle were blisters.

“Very large blisters,” he said. “The biggest event on the journey was on day 31. I learned that a man whose words I grew strength from every day had died. He was my mentor in the Christian faith. His name was Ian Thomas. So on day 31 I jogged 31 miles to honour his memory.

“The greatest thing I love about running are the people and their stories. I think about one friend who completed the Pikes Peak Marathon, but three years later died from a fight with ALS. When I run I think of him and his fight.

“I love the freedom in running from life’s stressors. Now I prefer half-marathons.”

But Brock is planning to run one last gruelling race. “I’m training for at least one more Pikes Peak Marathon.

The Pikes Peak Ascent (13.3 miles) and Marathon is a racing event that begins at the base of Pikes Peak, in Manitou Springs, Colorado, and climbs over 7,815 feet to the top of the 14,115ft peak. Winning times for the marathon are typically just under four hours.

Of this weekend, he said: “I’m excited. I will be doing the Triangle Challenge with the half-marathon as the third leg.”