A TAUNTON man battled heavy rain and strong winds to complete a tough 66-run over the weekend.

Ultra marathan runner Dave Urwin competed in the famous North Downs Way 100 over Saturday and into Sunday (August 5-6).

The North Downs Way 100 is an elite 100-mile race, starting in Surrey and Finishing in Kent.

The gruelling course is known for its challenging climbs and rough terrain.

The runners set of at 7am on Saturday morning with a cut off time of 1pm the following day to complete the course.

The first five hours went to plan completing 25 miles by just after midday.

However early afternoon torrential rain and winds set in, leaving all the competitors soaked through and making the course very slippery.

Dave continued on though and battled through the atrocious conditions.

He reached the 50-mile half way point of the race by 8pm.

He was also well ahead of the cut off time to complete the 100 miles.

But the tough conditions of earlier in the day were starting to drain all the runners.

At around midnight another downpour of rain came and the conditions worsened again.

At 2am on another big incline part of course Urwin had given his all and his race was over at exactly the 66-mile point.

It was a gallant effort from the Somerset man and an incredible achievement in such an elite race.

Dave has vowd to come back stronger again next year.