A dad-of-two who has committed to running every day for three years will mark his 1,000th day next week.

Lee Allen, from Queenborough, started running on New Year’s Eve 2016 and committed to running a minimum of 10km a day.

Since then, he’s had a total of 137 people run with him.

The 40-year-old said: “Some of the people who’ve joined me weren’t even runners beforehand and now they’ve signed up to do marathons next year – that’s probably the biggest achievement for me personally.”

Mr Allen, a procurement specialist for South East Water, intends to run 1,096 days in all, which will take him up to December 31 and mark three years.

“Originally I was just going to do a year,” he said.

“But I enjoyed it and people were joining me every day, so I decided to carry on and do this challenge.”

Mr Allen has lost about three stone since starting and has gone through 12 pairs of trainers.

As of Monday, he had run 6,990 miles - that’s 839 miles over where he should be at.

But Mr Allen is not ready to hang up his trainers just yet and is thinking about extending the challenge to, at least, April.

“I’ve got the Brighton Marathon in April and I’m waiting to hear if I’ve got into the London Marathon again,” he said.

“My daughter, Lucy, and I are both running the Dartford Half Marathon in March and the Gatwick Half Marathon in May as well.”

To celebrate running for 1,000 days without a break, Mr Allen is holding two events on September 26.

The first will be at Sittingbourne’s Westlands School, where 15-year-old Lucy is a pupil. Mr Allen will run a 3km route with about 30-40 children.

He will then head to South East Water in Snodland, where there will be a walk and run event at 5.15pm.

There will be a 6km route for runners and a 3km option for people to either run or walk.

“I want people with any ability to join, it’s about encouraging well-being," said Mr Allen.

"It’s for any age group, people can bring families and it’s all free.

“Every participant will get a medal, sponsored by Havill Funeral Services in Halfway.”

There will also be a barbecue and music. To join in, email lee.allen@southeastwater.co.uk

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