Dad completes '12 in 12' ultramarathon challenge

A man from Plymouth has completed a fundraising challenge that saw him run 12 ultramathons in 12 days.

Mehdi Taheri is raising money for charity Breakthrough T1D, which funds research into finding a cure for type 1 diabetes.

Mr Taheri's daughter Scarlett, who is now 14, was diagnosed with the condition in 2012.

More than 60 runners joined him on his final 50km (31-mile) race around Plymouth on Satuday, which he said "wouldn't have been possible" without their support.

Speaking after the run, he told the BBC: "Everyone stepped up to this challenge to make it happen, laced up.

"I was asking them to run with me at like four o'clock in the morning.

"The first day there were 13 of them. Today there was over 60.

"That goes to show how strong the community is, how strong our little family is and how much we care for one another.

"I think it makes the world a better place - they knew how much this challenge meant to me."

The 40-year-old said he was most proud of the achievements of those who joined in the challenge with him.

He said: "I made a challenge that involved the whole community.

"I had people who had never run more than 5k [5km, 3.1 miles] running a marathon, people who had never done more than a half marathon and they've done an ultra marathon.

"We care for the type 1 diabetes community, that was the message; raising awareness and funds for them and, hopefully, we get a few quid today now that it's over. But what we need to do is keep banging that drum.

"We will continue doing this. I will do more with the team that I've got and anything is possible."

Mr Taheri and his running mates have raised more than £7,000 on his JustGiving page so far.

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