'No-one told me amputees don't run marathons'

"When I'm training and racing I'm not thinking about being an amputee," says 71-year-old Chris Arthey.

"It's just about pace, heart rate and can I catch the guy in front of me. I'm just pushing myself to achieve the best I can and I will keep doing what I'm doing as long as I enjoy it."

Now he is training six days a week for his seventh super triathlon race at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire in June.

Arthey says has always loved running and taking part in endurance events, but, 18 years ago, his life changed when he and his wife Denise, were riding on a motorbike in Texas when a drunk driver travelling on the wrong side of the road hit them head on at 80mph (130kmh).

The couple, from Guildford, both had to have their left legs amputated with Arthey saying he did not know if he would be able to walk, let alone run again.

"Running had always been such a big part of my life so when I realised my leg had gone, I thought that was the end of that."

Arthey had already completed nine international marathons before he and his wife relocated from Surrey to the USA for work.

He said: "I was just starting to train for my next marathon, which would have been in Houston, when the accident happened."

After the crash he was put into a medically induced coma and when he woke up he was told his left leg had been amputated.

"When I was fully conscious I found it really difficult to come to terms with the fact that I had lost my leg.

"Running was a huge part of my identity and it left me thinking, who am I now? That was really my lowest point," he said.

The couple spent months recovering in a rehabilitation programme in America before eventually returning to the UK with prosthetic legs.

"Nobody had told me that people who have their leg amputated above the knee don't do marathons and triathlons, so I got curious about what could be achieved," Arthey said.

The prosthetic company Arthey chose to work with contacted Olympic and Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius' prosthetist to help design Arthey's running leg.

"They fitted me with a prosthetic leg and taught me to run again in the car park outside the prosthetist's office," Arthey said.

"Within a few minutes I could run a few paces and what shocked me is it actually felt like running. It was very exciting."

Since the motorcycle crash Arthey has completed two marathons, including the London Marathon in 2017, aged 61, when he became the first above-knee amputee to complete the race, finishing in a time of 4 hours and 50 minutes.

Arthey has also completed more than 20 triathlons since the amputation, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and trekked to Everest base camp.

He is currently training six days a week for the super triathlon at Blenheim Palace on 7 June.

This will be the seventh time he has competed in the event.

"I will keep doing what I'm doing for as long as I can enjoy it. The reality is that slower years are coming now, and that is a shame, but it's been great fun along the way," he says.

Over the years he has raised thousands of pounds for the Leonard Cheshire Disability charity which supports disabled people in the UK and around the world.

The Blenheim Palace Supertri triathlon will take place on 6 and 7June 6th in Oxfordshire.

Arthey will join more than 7,000 participants swimming, cycling and running around the historical estate and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.

Michael D'hulst, co-founder and CEO of Supertri, said: "I think sport can give meaning and purpose to people's lives and Chris' story is ultimately the epiphany of that.

"If at the age of 71 you can continue to challenge yourself, push your boundaries, push your mind and your body, that sets an amazing example to people and is something we should celebrate."

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