When he crosses the finish, Martin Parnell of Cochrane will have just 240 marathons to run this year.

Parnell has pledged to complete 250 marathons in one year in a bid to raise $250,000 for Right to Play, a children's sports charity.

The semi-retired engineer has already run about 400 kilometres but needs to run about 10,100 more. Parnell plans to run one 42-kilometre marathon every day from Sunday through Thursday every week.

"Just keep going and see where we end up," he said before run number 10.

Parnell is still on track to reach his goal, although incorrect pacing made for a disagreeable run earlier this week, he said.

"It was horrible," Parnell said. "I had gone out too fast. I was hoping to do less than five hours in the marathon. I thought, this is going good. I hit kilometre 30 and the legs just said, 'no, not running,' and I had to basically get my head around walking quite a bit and a little bit of running."

Running partner Roy Ellis has supported Parnell by joining him for three marathons.

"Who knows what tomorrow will bring," Ellis said. "We're here to support him in any way we can, and I guess we'll have to drag him across the finish line. I guess we'll do that, too."

Sue Work, Parnell's wife, said she is certain he will achieve his goal.

While running, Parnell said, all he thinks about is food.

"Whether it's chocolate milk or fish and chips or a bowl of stew, it's foods," he said. "There's nothing else you think about."

Most of the marathons Parnell plans to run are located near his home on an official route. About 16 of his planned runs will be unofficial marathons.

Parnell, a Cochrane resident, will spend about 15 per cent of his year running more than 10,500 km. - the equivalent of running from Cochrane to Boston, back through the northern United States to Seattle, up to Vancouver and back to Cochrane.

His life as an endurance runner began seven years ago when Parnell's brother, who also lives in Cochrane, challenged him to a marathon. But a truly pivotal moment for Parnell occurred in 2005 while cycling 11,000 from Cairo to Cape Town in Africa.

"I met a lot of kids along the way and we had a similar background, we played soccer and table tennis and I found they were so enthusiastic with sports and they had nothing. But we'd play sports and it would bring the life out in them," he said.

"So that was kind of a key moment for me."

Eight months ago, Parnell learned about Right to Play, an international humanitarian organization that uses sports and play programs to improve health, develop life skills and foster peace for children and communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world.

The mission of Parnell's Marathon Quest 250 is to raise $250,000 for Right to Play.

A semi-retired mining engineer, Parnell will run the equivalent of one marathon every day from Sunday to Thursday, taking Fridays and Saturdays off to recoup.

"I originally was thinking of calling it Marathon Quest 365," said Parnell. "I was thinking of doing one every day but my wife Sue packed me off to the doctor and said, 'have a chat with him'."

Feedback from his family doctor and other professionals in the industry encouraged 54-year-old Parnell to take a few breaks during the weeks to give him a real chance at completing this endeavor.

Doctors will closely monitor Parnell over the next year with routine blood and urine samples and checks for muscle damage, hydration, inflammation and immune function to ensure his health is never put in jeopardy.

His extensive endurance resume has certainly prepared Parnell for his Marathon Quest 250. Dozens of marathons, triathlons and ultramarathons (anything longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 km.) have given him plenty of experience and opportunities to build up his stamina.

"(Training) really has been over years rather than months. I'd honestly say that I've trained without knowing what I was training for, over the past five years. I've increased my mileage every year, I've done triathlons and a number of marathons and ultras," said Parnell. "Definitely, it's been a long term investment in developing some endurance attributes that you have to have."

As if running 250 marathons in 365 days isn't enough, Parnell will also face a number of weather induced challenges. While training for his quest in December, Parnell ran 15 km. in -20°C weather before the water in his hydration pack froze.

"It's a challenge. I've been out on a few runs to test gear and it's gone pretty well but the hydration pack is a challenge. It's okay until about -15°C but any colder I'm probably going to have to change my route to where I'll leave from the house and do 10 km. and then come back and warm the hydration pack up. I'll do the marathon like that," he said.

"Really, every day, the first thing I do is look at the temperature. What am I going to wear and figure out what the plan is for the day. Every day is different."

For bitterly cold days, Parnell will don five layers of clothes, two pairs of gloves with three handwarmers in each, plus a balaclava, mask, toque and ski goggles.

For the most part, the Marathon Quest 250 route will be a road run on the Cochrane Foothills Marathon course, certified by Athletics Canada to Canadian and International standards.

Parnell is also signed up for 12 races including Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, Footstock in Cochrane, Woody's Marathon in Red Deer, Boston, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Forty of Parnell's runs will take place at various schools surrounding Cochrane and while nine schools have signed on so far, Parnell is still looking for willing schools to fill the vacant 31 spaces.

"It's not a fundraiser. I just turn up and do the running and they can have a great time," said Parnell. "What I'll do is I'll go to a school and I'll run their track or field. I'll literally run the field and keep track with my GPS on how I'm doing."

The school runs are meant to raise awareness about Right to Play and to add an educational component to the curriculum.

"The schools I'm really looking forward to because the kids will come out and run a couple of laps with me during the day," said Parnell.

Schools will be supplied with certificates for each participating child, maps, posters and the opportunity to follow Parnell's vital statistics with 'real time information' provided via satellite.

So far, Parnell has been successful in raising about $15,000 for Right to Play and has received another $20,000 worth of 'in kind' donations from a range of sponsors.

"The budget for what I'm doing is $45,000. And that's out of my pocket," said Parnell.

"People have been very good and to this point, I've received about $20,000 'in-kind' like running shoes, the virtual map. So people have been fantastic to help me out to try to reduce my costs a bit."

Sponsorship and donations to Marathon Quest 250 has taken on a structured format where businesses and individuals or teams are welcome to sponsor each marathon, said Parnell.

Individuals or teams can sponsor a marathon for $1,000 and businesses can sponsor a marathon for $2,500.

"Obviously people can donate anything they want but we thought we'd take a bit of a structured approach," he said. "All the money collected goes directly to Right to Play. I have nothing to do with the money. When they hit 'Donate' on the Marathon Quest 250 website it goes to Right to Play website."

To learn more about Marathon Quest 250, visit the website at www.marathonquest250.com.

For more information on Right to Play, visit the website at www.righttoplay.com.

Donations can be made at either site.

In the year Jan 1st to Dec 31st 2010, in Alberta, Canada, Martin Parnell will attempt to run 250 marathons. His goal is to raise $250,000 for Right To Play.

Right To Play is an international, humanitarian organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills, and foster peace for children and communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world.

Right To Play also works in over 4,500 Canadian schools to inspire children and support their right to grow and learn, through physical activity.

Martin will run five marathons a week, with Fridays and Saturdays being recovery days, to cover a total distance of 10,550km (6550miles). An additional 12 days will be held in hand, in case of unforeseen circumstances.

The majority of the marathons will be run on the "Cochrane Foothills Marathon" course in Cochrane, Alberta. However, others will be run at official events such as the Boston Marathon (Apr 19th), Vancouver Marathon (May 2nd) and Calgary Marathon (May 30th), and other marathon opportunities (i.e. schools / events), within a reasonable distance from home.

Each marathon will be completely self-contained with no gel wrappers, water cups, banana skins or any other litter left along the route.

The 54-year-old semi-retired engineer, originally from England, will attempt to run the equivalent of 250 marathons over the next year. His quest is set to begin Jan. 1.

"I'll be running five a week from Sunday to Thursday, basically every week in 2010," Parnell said in a recent interview with the The Canadian Press.

"I think it's possible. I'm going to give it a darn good try and yeah, I've put in a lot of planning in the last six months trying to get this prepared."

Parnell, an ultra-marathon runner who has competed in Ironman competitions, began competitive running seven years ago. He has chosen the 42.2-kilometre Cochrane-Foothills marathon course because it's close to his home and to the beautiful backdrop of the snow-covered foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

He has run the route 20 times in the past year, but will have to up his game considerably in order to reach his goal.

Parnell hopes to raise $250,000 for Right to Play, a humanitarian organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills and foster peace for children and communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world.

"Five years ago I did a cycling trip across Africa and cycled from Cairo to Cape Town and it was a real eye-opener for me. I met a lot of kids along the way and I've done a lot of sport in my life," Parnell explained.

"I met kids and we played soccer and table tennis and that was a real inspiration for me of how sport can help kids."

If Parnell completes his goal, he will have gone 10,500 kilometres - a distance equal to running from Cochrane to Boston, then across the northern United States to Seattle, up to Vancouver and back to Cochrane.

His progress will be tracked on a virtual map and his mileage confirmed by a GPS transmitter, which will measure distance as well as his heart rate and blood pressure. His website is www.marathonquest250.com.

"I'm not in bad shape," he said with a laugh, adding: "I hope."

His family doctor recommended against his original plan of 365 marathons in 365 days, suggesting instead he run five days a week and take two days off.

"I think I'm in pretty fair shape. I'm going to be monitored for the whole year. I'm getting medical tests every month. I'm using some GPS data that will monitor me physically and if there's something untoward we'll have to address that."

Although most of his running will be done in the Cochrane area, he will spend 40 days running at schools and is signed up for a dozen marathon races.

His first race is in Calgary. He's also qualified for marathons in Boston, Vancouver, Victoria, Las Vegas and San Francisco. He plans to do a snowshoe race in Yellowknife.

The feat is possible, said John Stanton, a best-selling Canadian author of four books on running and founder of the Running Room.

"The slower he goes the higher the possibility of his success. Is it possible? Absolutely. Probably the most famous Canadian proved things are possible - Terry Fox ran a marathon every day until he got to Thunder Bay," Stanton said from his office in Edmonton.

"Would I recommend it to anybody? Not a chance."

Stanton said Parnell is on the right track with his plan to take a couple of days off a week, but the mental toll will be tough.

"The mind numbingness of it is one challenge and with the physical overuse there is the exposure to injuries that he could sustain would be another thing."

Parnell realizes the weather likely won't co-operate during the first few months. He did force himself to run the route in -36 C prior to Christmas.

"I've got the trail shoes with wool socks. Usually two to three layers on the legs, three to four layers up top, normally two pairs of gloves with three pairs of handwarmers inside. On the head normally a balaclava, a mask and ski goggles."

He also carries three litres of water in a camelback to help with hydration.

The possibility of running the same marathon course 180 times doesn't worry Parnell.

"I actually find running this area spiritual with the mountains and with the scenery around me and so on. I find it really uplifting."

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