A RUNNER from Chepstow is still sporting the same kit 44 years after putting on his first pair of running shoes.

Jonathan Such, born in February 1948, lives in Beachley and started running when he was 26 years old in 1974.

He said, “When my wife gave me the lovely news that she was going to have a baby, I was not very fit. I was a very heavy smoker so overnight I decided that I needed to get myself straight to be a father.

“I gave up the cigarettes and started jogging.

“It became a way of life and I became rather good at it. I’m 70 now and I still run every day.

“Over the years since I first took up running, I have amassed a total of well over 100,000 miles.

“I got my best marathon time down to 2h 30 minutes and I have run two hundred marathons in my career with 99 of those completed in less than three hours.

“I stopped running marathons when I reached 50 but I carried on running half-marathons, which I still do today.

“I will be lining up for the Severn Bridge Half Marathon on Sunday, August 26 and will be disappointed if I don’t run it in under two hours to be competetive in my age group - M 70+.”

The black and white photo of Jonathan above was taken in 1974 in Warwick.

“You will see I am wearing Ron Hill Union Jack shorts, a Leamington vest and Onitsuka Tiger racing flats,” Jonathan said.

“The other photograph was taken last Thursday. The shorts and vest are new but still the same and the shoes are Asic Gels with the same logo as always.

“At 26, I started running fairly late in life, but, after a fairly short introduction to running with Tipton Harriers, I joined Leamington Club and Athletics Club.

“I emigrated to South Africa in 1976 and, now that I’m retired, I spend part of my life in Beachley and part in Johannesburg.

“I reached the milestone of 100,000 miles on December 2, 2013 while running along the Muscat Corniche in Oman where I was holidaying at the time.”

Jonathan’s personal bests are 10 km in 33 min, 10 miles in 55 min, 21.1 km in 1h 12 min, 25 km in 1h 29 min, 32 km (20 miles) in 1h 56, 42.2 km in 2h 30min, 40 miles in 4h 28 (Isle of Man) and 100 miles in 17 h 30.