Paul McDougal has completed his epic challenge of running the route of the whole Tyne and Wear Metro network – with it taking him just 18 hours and 30 minutes to complete it. Paul, 35, lives in Vietnam now and returned home to the northeast to complete the challenge, all in aid of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACOA).
He started the run at 2000 on Saturday 7th February at South Hylton Metro station before going to Pelaw, then down to South Shields and back. He then headed through Gateshead and Newcastle to reach the Airport. It was then back to South Gosforth and along the coastal loop through North Tyneside. He completed the run at St James Metro station on the afternoon of Sunday 8th February.
Paul said: “I’m relieved and so pleased that I managed to get to the end of this run. I’m looking forward to a nice sit down now. It was a lot harder than I expected but I managed to keep going. I was in a lot of pain. The sheer distance was challenging mentally and physically. I’m just so happy to have reached the finish and I was delighted to see all my friends and family there to cheer me on.”
He is hoping that the fundraising for NACOA will support their free help line for young people who have a parent or guardian with alcoholism.
He added: “It’s cause close to my heart as I grew up in a household where my mam was an alcoholic. Hopefully my fundraising will help Nacoa to support other kids who are going through what I went through. It’s a great cause and I’m pleased to say that so far the run has raised over £11,000.”
Lynne Dickinson, Station Service Delivery Manager at Nexus, said: “This was an incredible feat of endurance from Paul and we’re over the moon to see that he has completed this challenge inside a single day. It’s a monumental effort to run the full length of our system along adjacent paths and roads. We were delighted to welcome Paul at the finish line in Newcastle. He’s supporting a realty worthwhile cause, one that’s close to his own heart, and we wish him well with his fundraising. He can now take a well-earned rest.”