Briton still leading charity race

Bob Brown is keeping up his strength with Cornish pasties

A man from Cornwall who is running across America for charity is still in pole position as he tackles the final stages of the 3,100-mile race.

Teacher Bob Brown, the lone UK runner in the international field, is 47 hours ahead of second place Frenchman Luc Dumont St Priest.

With 57 of the 70 stages behind him, Mr Brown has less than 600 miles of the California-New York route to run.

Mr Brown, 35, is keeping going with the help of Cornish pasties.

Extreme races

The runner, from Stoke Climsland, has eaten hundreds of the traditional pasties to keep up his strength for his punishing schedule.

He is raising money for a Cornish children's charity, Country Holidays for Inner City Kids.

Mr Brown, who runs well over the classic 26-mile marathon distance each day, turned to ultra distance running because he found marathons too short.

Over the years he has travelled the world to take part in the most extreme races known to man.

Born in Bushey in Hertfordshire, and a former Shaftesbury Harrier, he ran his first marathon back in 1989 but found that too short.

The same year he entered his first ultra race - running 80 miles - and has never looked back.

The City of London University graduate has also cycled in record time from Land's End to John O' Groats.