A BODYBUILDER has taken on the extraordinary fundraising challenge of walking a marathon - while towing a car.

On August 3, bodybuilder and ex-marine Max Glover attached himself to a 1.7 tonne BMW 525d with a harness, and walked 26.2 miles within 24 hours, raising over £1500 for Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity.

Mr Glover, born in Penarth and now living in Cardiff, travelled to Bruntinghthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestershire – who allowed him to use the track for 24 hours.

Mr Glover was inspired to raise by his friend Julie Parker, who recently had a lung transplant at Harefield Hospital. Ms Parker and Mr Glover met several years ago when he trained her at their local gym. They then ended up unexpectedly working together later in life when Mr Glover changed jobs.

Mr Glover said: “It was very tough for Julie before the transplant as she suffered with a genetic lung disease and her lungs slowly stopped working over a few years.

"It got to the point where she required an oxygen tank to be strapped to her back so that she could breathe. She never gave up and still worked and tried to do as much as she could and always kept a smile on her face.”

Ms Parker has a rare condition called Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency which means she lacks a protective enzyme inhibitor which makes her more vulnerable to smoke, dust and other toxic materials and increases the risk of lung disease. Because of the deficiency, Ms Parker was required to have a double lung transplant. Shortly after the transplant Ms Parker went to lunch with Mr Glover and he was amazed at how well she looked.

He said: “Because I was seeing her every day, I knew her health was declining as a result of the lung disease. But I don’t think I was so aware of the extent until I saw her after the operation, and how healthy she looked.”

This isn’t the first challenge Mr Glover has taken on.

In the past he has carried 200lbs up and down the highest mountain in Southern Britain, completed car dead lifts and successfully performed 1000 pull ups.

The pair now plan to walk Pen-Y-Fan, the highest mountain in South Wales, together to raise money in the future once Ms Parker is well enough.

Mr Glover set out to raise £1000, and has now raised £1500.

Officially, Mr Glover had only 13 days to train for this challenge, enlisting friends to help him by sitting in the car and steering as he tows.

“I was getting up at 4:30am to run around car parks towing the car with a harness before work," he said. "I love setting myself challenges but don’t tend to do what everyone else does. So I will look for something a bit far out or invent my own and usually try and document them on video.”

All the proceeds from the day will go towards the charity’s Harefield Transplant Appeal, to raise funds for organ care systems to allow more patients to receive life-saving transplants.

If you’d like to support Mr Glover in his marathon challenge his Justgiving page is: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/muscleworld2