British man runs 2557 miles across Australia... with a wheelbarrow

A 112-day journey by a man pushing a wheelbarrow across Australia to raise money for Breast and Prostate Cancer Research has finally ended in Sydney. David Baird left his Cottesloe Beach home in Perth on September 21. He arrived in Manly, on Sydney's northern beaches Saturday.

When he crossed the finish line he will have run the equivalent of one hundred full marathons in just 112 days. During the charity run well-wishers threw more than £9,145 ($20,000) into the barrow.

And Mr Baird said that while he has not suffered a single puncture, his feet have not fared so well.

He said: "All my adult life my feet have been a size ten but within three weeks my feet had spread out and I had to change to an eleven. Two weeks later I needed a twelve. My feet feel huge. I'm convinced my arms have got longer too".

Mr Baird has been running most of the way into a head wind and in temperatures of up to 46 degrees.

Eating mostly fruit and vegetables he has lost more than a stone (7kg) in weight. Now he is looking forward to dipping his feet into The Pacific Ocean. But he will not be taking much time off.

He said: "I'll probably get up on Sunday and go for a run without the barrow which will feel fantastic I'm sure"

Mr Baird, who emigrated to Australia and spent 21 years working in a coal-mine, got his idea for the wheelbarrow run from a race held near his home in Queensland.