Swindon Advertiser editor Dave King has completed his latest 10km race without any slip-ups – despite being dressed as a banana.

The journalist is spending this year running around the British Isles in 80 races, and his latest challenge was the Chiquita Bananaman Chase in Milton Keynes.

He was one of ten runners asked to don a banana costume and set the pace – with hundreds of runners behind him tasked with trying to catch him up.

He crossed the finish line in 47 minutes.

Dave (No. 2) with his fellow bananas

Dave told holdthefrontpage: “It was quite something. I had a five-minute head-start and had to run round a lake at a pace – 16 runners passed me.

“The event itself was quite moving. The race was organised by Leukaemia Research and most people there had been touched by leukaemia in some way.

“But it was also uplifting to see how they were overcoming adversity.”

The Bananaman Chase was Dave’s 62nd race this year, and was part of the mammoth running project which he began on December 31 in aid of the Hampshire Autistic Society.

Since then he has completed between four and 13 races of varying lengths a month, including the London Marathon in April, and plans to finish his 80th race back where he started in Belper, for the Bryan Clifton Memorial Midnight Run on December 31 this year.

Dave, who joined the Advertiser two weeks ago and was previously deputy editor at the Southern Daily Echo, said: “It’s been so far so good and I’m pleased with how much progress I’ve made.

“It’s been an incredible year.”

He has also raised £20,000 for the Hampshire Autistic Society as well as raising awareness of autism – something which is close to his heart as his son Ross is severly autistic.

Dave said: “It’s been hugely successful and I’m grateful to all my media colleagues for the coverage.”

Dave is overtaken by another runner