Espoo-based Viljanen surprised his support team by running 91 kilometres on the final day of the run, when he usually only covered 50 kilometres or more per day. The run totalled nearly 2,000 kilometres.

The epic run began on 6 January in the Moroccan town of Tan Tan in the Anti-Atlas mountain range, crossing the western Sahara before reaching Mauritania.

The Sahara run is Viljunen’s longest to date. He has previously run 1,000 kilometres across the Kalahari desert, and completed runs in the Antarctic.

Jukka Viljanen's website