THIS week’s From the Archive remembers a young man from Penarth who attempted to smash a world record.

David Briley, 18, of St David’s Crescent, Penarth, attempted to set the world record for non-stop running to raise money for a kidney research unit.

He kicked off his record attempt at noon on Friday, 3 October 1969 in the Maindy Stadium, Cardiff, with colleagues helping him keep pace and family cheering him on.

Mr Briley, a carpenter joiner, had previously set an unofficial British record for the long walking record – making an incredible 175 mile walk in “63 sleepless hours”.

Sponsors for the run were also sought, with money going to the the Penarth branch of the Kidney Research Unit for Wales Foundation.

The previous record for non-stop running had been set 87 years before, when J. Saunders ran 120 miles and 270 yards in 22 hours and 49 minutes.

Sadly, Mr Briley would fall short of his record attempt as the following week’s Penarth Times would report; he ran around 45 miles in eight hours and 15 minutes.

Mr Briley showed “great fortitude and determination... despite agonies in the final hours.”

He was highly praised by friends and colleagues, earned immediate membership of the Cardiff Athletic Club and raised a “substantial donation” to the Kidney Research Unit.

The modern record is held by American ultramarathon runner Dean Karnazes, who ran 350 miles in 80 hours and 44 minutes without sleep in 2005.