“Amazing”, “fantastic,” “unbelievable” – just three of the words used by Phillip Howells when he spoke to The Local Answer after running his 333^rd and final marathon.

And they are words that capture perfectly the achievement of the 75-year-old Tewkesbury Running Club member, who ran his first marathon way back in 1982.

The 333^rd and last was the Charles Darwin Day Marathon in Shrewsbury, which was run around a one-kilometre cycle track at a sports centre.

“It was 44 laps,” said Howells, “and on the last lap, I was joined by 20 of my good friends, it was amazing. I thought I’d finish in seven hours and a quarter but I finished in seven hours, 11, so I was pleased with that.”

And what made the run all the more impressive was that Howells had been unwell in the run-up to Friday’s big event.

“I had a sore throat on the Tuesday,” said Howells, “and on the Wednesday I was pretty rough, I spent most of the day in bed! I started to feel a lot better on the Thursday but I could still feel the after-effects on Friday.”

So how does he feel now, a handful of days after his final marathon?

“I’m a bit tired,” he admitted. “It was emotionally, physically and mentally draining. There was relief and joy at the finish, it was fantastic, just unbelievable.” 

‘Incredible’ is another word that Howells could have used, and the passion, enthusiasm and determination shown in abundance by Howells to realise his goal has certainly been just that – incredible.

“I’ve achieved just about everything I wanted,” he said. “I’ve run 10,124 miles over the 333 marathons.”

That mileage can be broken down into 111 road marathons, 111 trail marathons and 111 ultra marathons, something that Howells believes to be unique. And he’s almost certainly right because he’s one of only half-a-dozen who have completed the Triple Crown of 100 road marathons, 100 trail marathons and 100 ultra marathons.

And while Howells has understandably slowed in recent years, it should be pointed out that he was a decent runner back in the day, someone who ran five sub three-hour 30-minute marathons.

So, is Howells tempted to run just one more marathon for old time’s sake?

“Absolutely not,” he laughed, before adding that there is still plenty he wants to achieve in the sport.

That includes running 250 parkruns – he’s halfway to that target – and 100 half marathons and 10Ks. For the record, he’s run 83 half marathons and 71 10Ks, and he hopes to achieve all three of his targets by the time he is 80.

So what are his plans for this weekend?

“There’s a Gloucestershire Athletic Association Cross-Country league fixture at Pittville Park in Cheltenham on Saturday,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed cross-country. It’s about four miles for over-60s, I’ll run for Tewkesbury Running Club.”