Monty Python marathon man takes on Corfe Castle

A man attempting to run 52 marathons in a year has completed his latest by running around a castle dressed as King Arthur in a Monty Python tribute.

Andy Mutter, 50, from Weymouth, Dorset, said the challenge at Corfe Castle was also to mark St George's Day.

He even clopped coconut shells together to imitate the sound of a galloping horse as Graham Chapman did in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Mr Mutter was joined by knights and ladies singing Monty Python songs.

They set off at 9:00 BST and circled the castle 43 times. It was his 21st marathon of 2023.

Mr Mutter, an engaged father of two girls, has entered 15 official events across the year, including one as long as 220 miles (354 km), but the rest are his own themed creations.

One saw him dress up as Mr Blobby, while the first, to mark his birthday, was a "beerathon" with about seven pub stops.

"It was the slowest marathon I've done so far this year obviously," he admitted.

The IT worker is running in aid of the MS Society UK in memory of his first serious girlfriend who died five years ago with the condition, and for his mother-in-law who also has multiple sclerosis.

"I wanted to come up with a challenge that would be something I could keep on tapping into throughout the whole year," he explained.

He said the regular marathons were taking a toll on his body but visits to a physio were keeping him on track.

He added: "I just get on with it... you get niggles all the time but you've just got to manage them and do the right things to keep going."

But while Sunday's challenge saw him wear the uncomfortable accoutrements of a knight, he said it was not as bad as being dressed up as an inflatable Mr Blobby.

"I've still got a mark on my nose where the Mr Blobby costume friction-burned me, going up and down my nose for 26 miles."