10 million metre man takes big step towards unlikely target

Henley Standard, UK, Date: Mon, September 19, 2011

A MAN with Parkinson’s disease has spoken of his latest gruelling challenge in a bid to travel 10 million metres and raise more than £1million for charity.

Alex Flynn, 39, from Henley, ran and cycled from London to Rome, a distance of 1,457 miles, or more than 2.3 million metres.

It brings his total distance covered so far to 3,495,330 metres and he has raised more than £42,000 for Parkinson’s UK.

He said: “It was an unbelievable achievement to complete the run, especially because I came close to giving up a number of times. Now I am looking forward to the next challenge.”

Mr Flynn, who discovered he had the incurable disease in 2008 and is losing his mobility gradually, said the month-long journey was one of the most gruelling experiences of his life.


He suffered a bone fracture in his right leg and was nearly killed by passing trucks in the Alps.

Mr Flynn, a lawyer, was accompanied on the challenge by Dave Clamp, an ironman competitor from Cheshire, and they set off from London at 5.30am on June 10.