SEVENTY-one days, 3,000 miles and five pairs of trainers after he started, East Cornwall?s most celebrated ultra-distance runner has set an international record as the first Briton to win ?Run Across America?.

Bob Brown, who has spent the last two years teaching at Stoke Climsland Primary School, crossed the finish line in New York on Saturday, more than 60 hours ahead of his nearest rival, French runner Luc Dumont Saint Priest.

Bob completed the gruelling challenge, which is competed on every conceivable road surface from Interstate highway to farming track, in 510 hours, 47 minutes and 24 seconds, having traversed the entire North American continent from Huntington Beach on California?s Pacific coast to the Atlantic seaboard of New York.

His arrival at the finish post in Central Park was heralded by an opening of the heavens as the Big Apple suffered a torrential downpour that lasted most of the afternoon.

But the rain did nothing to dampen Bob?s spirits and he crossed the line with a beaming smile, having completed almost two marathons every day since June 12.

He said: ?I am so chuffed and excited to be finishing. The sad thing is that although I just wanted to get the run finished, now it?s over I will miss it like a long lost friend!

?Today, as we started out I was able to ask the question, ?What am I doing this time next week?? and I was able to answer to myself, ?Not running!?.

?My legs are still very sore, however, this race has been so hard on the legs with all the climbing that I feel happy to have made it in one piece.

?Weightwise I am down to 8 stone 10 pounds - I haven?t been that weight since I was 14 ? yet I have been eating like a horse . . . a hungry horse!?

Bob, who was sponsored by Callington-based pasty company Ginsters, ate about 10,000 calories a day while competing in Run Across America, with a staple diet of eight pasties a day complemented by jelly, chocolate, energy bars, crisps and red wine.

Bob?s wife, Amy, also a teacher in Stoke Climsland, and his parents Margaret and Vic, were in New York to see him cross the finishing line.

This year?s race was particularly special to a charity group in the region as Bob was undertaking the ?Run Across America? to raise money for Milton Abbot-based charity CHICKS.

CHICKS provides holidays in the countryside for inner city children.

Marion Luckurst and Ali Hurley from the charity flew to New York to meet Bob at the finishing line and spokesperson Tracy Izod said: ?What Bob has done is incredible, we have already raised more than £12,000 in sponsorship from ?Run Across America? and that?s not counting what Bob has raised himself.

?We are really proud of him and we just can?t wait to get him back in one piece.?

Anyone wishing to contribute to CHICKS or to read Bob?s own take on his race can visit his website at http://www.bobbysrun.co.uk">www.bobbysrun.co.uk

Bob, who is originally from Bushey, Hertfordshire, competed in his first marathon at 14, but found the 26-mile stretch too short, spurring him to take up ironman events and ultra-distance running.