Teenager Rob Thomson has completed a 172-mile endurance running event down the Thames Path, raising funds for a charity trip to South America next year.

The 15-year-old, who attends The Corsham School, set off on his run on Thursday, October 20, and finished on Thursday, October 27, at London’s Tower Bridge, running nearly a marathon a day.

He has raised around £1,000 from the run to fund a £4,000-trip to Bolivia next summer where he intends to do a mountain trek followed by charity work.

Rob, of Hazelbury Hill, Box, said: “To help fund my trip to Bolivia I wanted to do something impressive so I discussed ideas with my gran and we came up with the idea of doing the Thames Path run.

“I don’t think she thought I was being serious originally but I was determined to succeed.

“My mum said there was no way I was doing it but we discussed it and she allowed me to do it.”

In preparation for the endurance run, Rob trained hard throughout the summer and built up his stamina for the challenge that lay ahead.

He said: “I’m very proud to have completed the challenge. It was quite a weird feeling finishing, it was all rather surreal. I had my mum cheering me on from Tower Bridge which was a little embarrassing but rather cool.”

Each day Rob, who was supported by family and friends, would run around 25 miles and then stay over at guesthouses and hotels with parents Suzanne and Ian Thomson.

Mother Mrs Thomson, who celebrated her 48th birthday two days before the run finished, said: “I was a bit unsure of him doing the run originally. I was just hoping he didn’t do anything stupid. By the third day, which was Rob’s longest, he proved to us just how capable he is as a runner and I’m immensely proud of him.

“It was also quite a unique birthday for me as I can’t imagine ever celebrating it in that fashion again. As we were in London, we decided to plan the trip to stop at my old university, Royal Holloway, and I celebrated it in a pub I used to go into during my studies.

“We also took Rob around the campus to see what he thought of the university.”

Now that Rob, whose only injuries were three blisters, has finished his challenge, he said that he plans to put his feet up for the next couple days to recover from the run.