People

Lee has always been a keen runner, and has already started training for his endurance challenge by running between 10 and 20 miles a day. He says he will not be beaten, despite two failed world record attempts behind him.

Listen to Lee talking about why he decided to embark on his world record attempt:

Lee at his 2007 record attempt

He said that keeping fit has always been part of his life, thanks to his dad who was a keen runner and cyclist. But it was when he joined the army that Lee really started to step up his fitness regime.

He said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the army. Being keen on sport and fit anyway I took it all as a challenge. I joined the royal mechanical engineers, and I got heavily into sport in the army. I tried for the army team and got in the triathlon team and the athletics team.

“I never used to be a team player as a kid, I always used to throw my teddy if I lost. I am quite competitive.”

Lee enjoyed the feeling of being part of a close-knit family that he experienced in the army, and when he left the army, he decided to join the police.

But it was a near miss with an out of control car while on duty which convinced him that he wanted to try and push himself by setting an endurance running world record.

He said: “I was on a late shift in Surrey, escorting a prisoner, and we had to pull over on the road to talk to another driver.

"Whilst we were talking, a car came in the other direction. The guy lost control of his car and collided with our police car and I happened to be between two vehicles at the time.

“Thankfully my colleague managed to pull me out of the way just as the vehicles were colliding at waist height.

Lee Chamberlain

“I really remember lying in hospital thinking I’m going to do something different, something extreme because I was so glad I still had my legs.”

Lee’s first record attempt was to smash the record number of miles run within a 48 hour period in 2004. Despite completing a heroic 168 miles, this still fell far short of the world record – a staggering 230 miles.

Lee’s next move was to attempt to beat the record for the most miles run over seven days.

He set up a treadmill in Bracknell Shopping Centre and ran and slept in shifts over seven days, just managing to reach the 410 mile mark in his last hour of running.

Lee said: “I literally cried in the middle of the shopping centre, managed to hobble upstairs and collapsed elated.   It was impossible for me to walk for the next few days I stayed at home and had to be carried around and hobbled about.”

When Lee took part in the challenge, he believed the record over this time was 409 miles, and he had set a new distance. However, after completing a gruelling 410 miles, he learned that another runner had already beaten this record before he held his attempt, managing 455 miles.

Now he is determined to have another crack at the world record.

Lee said: “I was thinking ‘never again’ but now I think it’s definitely do-able.”