"A LOT of pride" was felt by Bury Army Officer Major Paul Pendlebury when he accomplished a gruelling 2,200 kilometre run from Bosnia to England last week. Paul,46, who organised the marathon, set off with a team from the camp at Tomislavgrad on October 26. They arrived in their home base in Maidstone, Kent eleven days later.

The run coincided with the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, and the ten-man team diverted the run to visit to a military cemetery in France.

The soldiers, all from 61 Field Support Squadron, Royal Engineers, raised nearly £15,000 for the Army Benevolent Fund and Maidstone General Hospital.

Paul said: "We felt a lot of pride as we crossed the finishing line."

The men ran a non-stop relay, running for two hours at a time and carrying on through the night regardless of the weather.

The run took them over the Alps and through seven European countries - Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Germany and France.

By the sixth day four runners had pulled out through injury with the remaining six, Paul included, were running 26 miles daily - the equivalent of a marathon - for the last four days.

Paul is an experienced marathon runner and has already taken part in a 1,300 mile charity run from John O'Groats to Land's End and then to Rochester, Kent.

The runners took a break to lay a wreath at the Delville Wood Cemetery in France where past serving soldiers of 61st Field Company are buried.

"Our Squadron Commander and Sergeant Major were there and we had a small service to show out respect for men from 61 Field Company who died preparing battle field defences in the Great War," said Paul.

The group took the ferry across the Channel - with a runner on a running machine - but once they arrived on English soil their marathon task was still not over - they had to run 41 miles to their home base at Invicta Park Camp, Maidstone.

The street leading to the camp was lined by soldiers from the Regiment who had already returned from Bosnia and cheered them to the finishing line.

Paul who says his nickname is Grumpy, joined the Royal Engineers as a Sapper in 1968 and only intended to stay in three years.

His parents, Alf and Rae Pendlebury, live in Bury, and his wife Vivienne and their three children, live in Unsworth.

"It was tiring but my father and mother have both suffered from cancer for the last five years and they live each day as though they are healthy as can be so I haven't got any problem," said Paul

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