Army officer launches South Tyneside world record attempt - to run 5,800 miles in 200 days!

Staff Sgt Paul Minter, 34, of the Household Cavalry wants to set up a charity retreat where people who have been in the military – both serving and veterans – can come for support through their dark times.

He plans to run 30 miles a day for 200 days, starting in South Shields on November 28 this year which is the day after he is medically discharged from the Army.

Paul, who used to live in Hebburn and is now in St Albans, has seen service for 18 years but he has twice faced life-or-death experiences. Both were while he was on duty in the Helmand province of Afghanistan.

First, in 2006, his seven-strong unit was ambushed in a rocket attack and only three of them came out alive.

In 2011, Paul was the leader in a Jackal machine gun vehicle when it hit a roadside bomb.

Paul suffered minor injuries but he said: “When you are on the front line, your brain is always on high alert.

"When you come back to normality, your brain doesn’t know where it is and anxiety creeps in.

"It becomes uncontrollable and you realise it is the environment that was creating the triggers.

"When you are in the Army, you need to focus and the doctors said I was unable to continue service. It was hard for me after doing more than 18 years.”

But Paul was determined to think positively and learned everything he could about positive mindsets, the right nutrition, and self development.

Now he plans to use the skills and his military experience to help others.

He said: “I have learned to change my mindset into a positive mindset through different techniques. I decided to dedicate my life to helping others.”

He has founded a charity called Head Up and Paul is also setting up a holistic retreat where military personnel can come for seven to 21 days. They will learn techniques to help them with a positive outlook in their lives.

But Paul, a former South Tyneside College student, added: “We need a substantial amount of money to set up a retreat and I thought ‘I am going to have to go all out to achieve this.

"This is a run which would be a world record. It has never been achieved before.

"I will run round GB and Northern Ireland. It is 5,800 miles and I am hoping to do it in 200 days.”

Paul would love people to run sections with him, offer support, donations and somewhere to stay each night.

"I am fully committed to this,” he told the Gazette. “I have had several of my friends commit suicide after going to war and the flow is not slowing down. I don’t want to see it any more.”

To find out more about Paul, his charity Head Up and how to back his mega run, visit https://www.head-up.org.uk

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