WHEN Marcin Soszka lines up at the start line of his home town race on September 30, he will be 26.2miles away from becoming the first person to run a marathon in every European capital city.

The member of Saltaire Striders has been running around major cities since 2009 and is one away from crossing the finish line 100 times.

He has ran around the streets of Reykjavik, Moscow, Paris and Berlin as he attempts to complete the significant feat, but all of them have come with their own different landscapes and challenges.

His latest bid for glory will see him tackle the Warsaw marathon in his native Poland.

He said: "I've seen a lot of beautiful places in Europe.

"Every city centre is different because of their history or nature, so it's hard to compare Reykjavik to London or Moscow to Edinburgh.

"Every place is lovely in its own way and the people make it great for me with the atmosphere they create.

"I love running in Scandinavia, places like Norway and Iceland because of how quiet they are."

The 35-year-old is keen to make this gruelling challenge his last marathon, and has set himself the challenge of breaking through the 2hr 30min barrier.

This has involved a training schedule any professional would find tough after committing himself to several hours of running a day.

His alarm goes off every morning at 4am before he runs to work at the BorgWarner factory, on the Euroway Industrial Estate, where his shift starts at 6am.

Once his shift is over, he puts his running shoes back on and returns home to his flat near Lister Park.

"I'm focussed for this and doing a lot of hard work," he said.

"Sometimes I do two sessions a day.

"It's not easy, but if you want to reach your dreams you have to do it."

While most marathon runners often tackle one or two a year, it has been known for Marcin to run 10 in eight months.

Between September and May last year, he completed all 10 in under three hours in a bid to reach his dream personal best of 2hrs 30min.

If he is to achieve the well-respected time, he will have to shave eight minutes off his fastest time.

He added: "Doing 10 marathons in a row was crazy and my body was very tired, but I'm close to that barrier.

"It's crucial for me to get this time this year because of my age.

"I may be able to do it next year, but I don't want to wait another year."

Most of the runs have been for Marcin's own personal goals, but this time he will run to raise money for the children's charity, Unicef.