Bleary-eyed hikers walk 100 miles without sleep

Lifelong friends who share a passion for walking have conquered a 100-mile ultramarathon without sleep.

Peter Copsey and Simon Alexander joined nearly 540 other walkers on the Rat Race between Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland and Edinburgh Castle.

Participants were given a target time of 48 hours, and almost one in three did not finish last week's event, but the Essex duo ended in 39 hours, four minutes and 12 seconds.

Copsey, from Tiptree near Colchester, recalled asking himself "what am I doing? What are my life choices that led me to this?".

The pair, who are both 47 years old, have been trekking together for 12 years, which has included the Three Peaks Challenge and a 192-mile coast-to-coast walk.

They told BBC Essex presenter Zaileen Hewins that they had chosen to fundraise for charities personal to them.

Copsey selected a dementia charity because both his grandmothers suffered with it.

Alexander, from Coggeshall, said raising awareness of motor neurone disease was a cause close to him after his friend's "world turned upside down" due to a diagnosis.

The pair have collectively raised £3,000.

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