Bournemouth runner completes 44 marathons in 44 days Published duration 15 May 2017

image copyright MarathonsfortheMind image caption Peter Thompson ran 44 marathons in 44 consecutive days in 44 countries

A charity fundraiser has achieved his goal of running 44 marathons on consecutive days - one in each of 44 countries.

Peter Thompson, from Bournemouth, began his challenge on 1 April in St Petersburg and finished in Dublin on Sunday.

The 32-year-old has raised almost £18,000 for mental health charities Livability Holton Lee and Mind.

He said travelling between countries had been a logistical nightmare.

image copyright MarathonsfortheMind image caption Peter Thompson was raising money for mental health charities Livability Holton Lee and Mind

image copyright MarathonsfortheMind image caption Peter Thompson's route took him through 44 countries

Mr Thompson said he hoped his challenge would "encourage others to be open about mental health and, if comfortable, share their own stories".

"We all face our own issues but wouldn't it be great if everyone was able offer support instead of judgement, advice instead of avoidance, or simply a smile instead of a stare," he said.

Between each marathon he had to move from one country to the next, in "a mixture of trains, planes, buses, taxis, cars and ferries".

image copyright MarathonsfortheMind image caption Peter Thompson said travelling to each of the 44 countries had been a "logistical nightmare"

image copyright MarathonsfortheMind image caption A day without travel was an opportunity to wash his running kit - cake featured on the breakfast menu in Italy

He ate cake for breakfast some days and even found time to hand wash his running kit on occasions.

He said it had been the "best thing and the hardest thing" he had ever done.

Although he rarely had time to sit down to a proper meal he said he had consumed about 6,000 calories each day - eating mainly sandwiches and chocolate.

He praised family, friends and running clubs in various countries who had "gone out of their way" to help him, including running with him at points along the route.

The 44-marathon route:

St Petersburg, Russia

Helsinki, Finland

Tallinn, Estonia

Riga, Latvia

Vilnius, Lithuania

Minsk, Belarus

Kiev, Ukraine

Chisinau, Moldova

Bucharest, Romania

Sofia, Bulgaria

Nis, Serbia

Skopje, Macedonia

Shkoder, Albania

Podgorica, Montenegro

Sarajevo, Bosnia

Zagreb, Croatia

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Vienna, Austria

Bratislava, Slovakia

Brno, Czech Republic

Budapest, Hungary

Krakow, Poland

London, United Kingdom

Lisbon, Portugal

Barcelona, Spain

Andorra La Vella, Andorra

Mormoiron, France

Monaco, Monaco

City of San Marino, San Marino

Rimini, Italy

Vatican City

Luqa, Malta

Athens, Greece

Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Sargans, Switzerland

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Mons, Belgium

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hamburg, Germany

Copenhagen, Denmark

Gothenburg, Sweden

Oslo, Norway

Reykjavik, Iceland

Dublin, Ireland