Ultra runner and multiple world record holder Rory Coleman is famous for putting himself to the test and he's just done the same for Tunturi's T90 treadmill.

In a dummy run for walking the same route in 26 days commencing at the end of April, he put one on the back of a 58-foot truck driving from Newquay to Newcastle-upon-Tyne and walked more than three marathons while the driver took him 711 miles north over 34 hours 49 minutes and 50 seconds, straight into the most appalling weather.

However, the T90 kept going even though, as Coleman says, it looked as if it had been taking part in a car rally.

“Sometimes it was like walking into a hurricane. There were strong cross winds and if the truck went uphill or downhill, or leaned sideways because of the camber in the road, so did the T90 and I, but the treadmill never faltered.

“The guys from Bolton Stirland Fitness came to do a Formula 1-style pit stop in Nottingham but they only had to check the T90, it was doing so well.”

The owners of the truck, Bristol-based Lane Group, now plan to keep the treadmill not just as a memento of their involvement in the launch of the Get Fit Foundation (GEFF) but for their staff to use for exercise during breaks at work.

For his part, Coleman will continue his marathon training aboard another T90.

GEFF, backed by the Department of Health, is designed to get the inactive element of the British public onto its feet and exercising. Full details of the campaign and the April-May walk can be found on www.geff.info or call GEFF on 01789 720336 and speak to Steve Blackman or Caroline Knox.

leisure-kit keywords: Bolton Stirland