Ref. 72069-20IRONMAN Brian Hall has a hectic New Year schedule.

The 22-year-old from Rodbourne has started training for what could be his biggest test so far 10 marathons in 10 days.

Brian, a shop assistant at Great Western Designer Outlet Village, hopes the challenge will raise hundreds of pounds for sufferers of cystic fibrosis.

And it won't be the first time the keen sportsman has pushed the boundaries of human endurance to the limit in the name of charity.

In September he successfully completed a double marathon in eight hours and 13 minutes.

A cheque for £1,000 was presented to grateful staff at Swindon's Great Western Hospital where it's hoped some of the money will be spent in the children's unit.

Money is still rolling in, which could take the total close to the £2,000 mark. Brian revealed his motivation behind the latest challenge, which he intends to complete in March.

"My 18-year-old cousin Kimberley has cystic fibrosis so I'll be doing it for her and other sufferers," he said.

"I've watched Kimberley grow up over the years. On family holidays she would be stuck inside the caravan having physio while everyone else would be on the beach enjoying themselves."

Amazingly, Brian has not always had a full bill of health having undergone a total of 32 operations since birth.

He was struck down by kidney stones that put paid to an earlier attempt at the double marathon. And as a child he had countless stays at the former Princess Margaret Hospital with pelvis complications. Brian said: "I may to go back into hospital, because some of the stitches put in after the kidney stones operation have not healed properly.

"I am just back training after Christmas.

"I'm looking at running between 10 and 15 miles a day three times a week then in February I'll step that up to five or six days."

Brian, who is studying at Swindon College for a qualification in personal fitness training, found that he was not too tired after the 52-miles.

"I felt pretty good afterwards," he said.

"I was worried that my body would not be able to keep up so soon after the operation."

Brian admits to keeping an eye on the latest antics of Mike Buss, a former member of the elite SAS regiment motto Who Dares Wins who hopes to smash 100 world fitness records in 12 months.

"I see he's trying to strip me of the Ironman tag but he's got his goals and I have mine," he joked.

"We must both have some kind of brain deficiency that makes us want to torture ourselves.

"But too many people do nothing with their days," he said. "I always have to be doing something active."

Kevin Shoesmith