Postmaster in bid to break Guinness World Record wants to bring achievement home to Ardingly

Runner Phil Payne, 35, intends to scale 18,000 metres – 11 miles straight up, more than twice the height of Everest – to raise funds for a mental health charity.

He is currently training to run up and down a hill 160 times in a day on September 26 – 24 hours without rest – to raise funds for MIND.

Phil, who lives in Haywards Heath, said: “I will be fundraising for mental health awareness this year as it is a topical issue that has affected family, friends and myself. Having a challenge to focus on is an important part of my own mental health.”

The fundraising challenge will also be Phil’s attempt to attain the world record for the total amount of ascent and descent on foot (greatest vertical distance uphill and downhill) in 24 hours.

He plans to undertake the challenge on Ardingly’s Cob Lane, the steepest road hill in Sussex with a climb of 59 metres in less than quarter of a mile distance – 20 per cent gradient at steepest part – bringing a world record home to the village where he has been postmaster for several years.

Phil suffered a fractured pelvis after being involved in a road accident in September 2016, in which he was thrown from the back of a motorcycle.

Despite this, he was able to run a marathon on the December of that year.

No stranger to exercise challenges, Phil has also previously competed in the 250km Marathon Des Sables in the Sahara Desert, the 100km CCC race around Mont Blanc and the South Downs Way 100 mile race to name just a few.

Phil said: “It may be my hardest challenge to date but something that has been in the pipeline for a while now.

“I have other races and marathon challenges in the meantime as part of my training.”

Kim Lo, Phil’s fiancé, is also a keen runner and the couple have taken part in events all over the world including the Great Wall of China Marathon,

Venice Marathon, Marathon du Medoc, and the Ston Wall Race in Croatia.

Kim said: “Once Phil puts his mind to something he commits himself to it. He has already been running up and down Cob Lane late nights in the dark with a headtorch. Earning a world record will be a big tick on his bucket list and I can’t wait to see him achieve it”.

Phil hopes that lots of friends, residents and local sports clubs, and maybe even a celebrity, will come along to cheer him on and take part in a repetition or two to keep him motivated. He is also be looking for sponsors large and small.

To sponsor Phil, or to find out more, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/philsworldrecord.