For many people running a marathon is the experience of a lifetime.

But for one man from Halesworth that was not enough.

Instead, Ian Taylor, 46, is trying to join the elite 100 marathon club, and as part of his efforts has just ran 11 in 11 weeks.

Mr Taylor, of Barley Meadow, only did his first marathon in 2007 at the age of 42, but just four years later he has already completed 52. The Bungay Black Dog Running Club member was inspired after reading a book about someone who had completed 100 marathons and decided he would have to act fast if he was to reach this.

Mr Taylor, who recently took voluntary redundancy from the Royal Mail, had previously ran four in four weeks, but after seeing Leon Bernasconi, of Lowestoft, run five in five, he thought he'd try to double that.

This led him to run in Steyning, Bedford, Brighton, Crawley, Battle, Bungay, London, Bletchley, the Three Forts Challenge, Halstead and Orpington from March 6 to May 14 – a total of over 288 miles.

He said: 'It is the challenge of it, but also seeing the countryside. Where those marathons are, are really nice, like Halstead, north Essex. It is not an area I know particularly well and would not travel all the way down there just for a training run.'

Mr Taylor said his running club had been very supportive and have been following him with a great deal of interest.

The fastest of his 11 marathons this year was the Bungay Black Dog Marathon, but he admitted this was not about times.

'When you are doing that frequency you have to look at the bigger picture. You have to remain fit and well, and most importantly injury free to do it all again next week and the week after,' he said.

Mr Taylor aims to run his 100th marathon in Bungay before his 50th birthday and hopes that he will do it on the same day a number of the juniors are able to run their first.