Run, Richard, run: Irish man races across US

An endurance runner from Galway has had near misses from hunters, an attempted hit-and-run, deadly rattlesnakes, and heat exhaustion in an epic test run across the US.

Richard Donovan began his pacey journey through 12 states on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge on May 19 and, with about 800km, to go he is due to finish in New York on September 5.

Despite running up to 75km a day, the trip was not designed to set a new continental record but to train the former economist for an unprecedented run across Antarctica.