A SERIAL fundraiser who has taken on a series of epic long-distance challenges is lacing up his running boots once again.

Jamie Ramsay, who previously spent 18 months running from Canada to Argentina, will spend a week next month running from Germany through Austria and Switzerland before finishing in the north of Italy.

The fundraiser may ‘only’ be covering 263 kilometres but the mountainous terrain means it will be another tough challenge.

Jamie, who grew up in Whittingehame, told the Courier: “It is one of the toughest multi-day trail running races.

“It is 263 kilometres over seven days with about 15,000 metres of ascent, which will be fun, hopefully.”

Runners set off from Fischen in southern Germany and take on seven gruelling stages on the GORE-TEX Transalpine Run.

Day two takes runners over the border and into Switzerland before the fourth day sees them enter Austria.

Finally, on September 9, they cross the finish line in Sulden in northern Italy.

The former Belhaven Hill School and Loretto School pupil will be joined on the run by Kevin Foster, who he met on England’s highest peak, Scafell Pike.

Jamie, who spoke to the Courier from a campervan in Exmoor in the south-west of England, was in the middle of a busy period.

He added: “I worked it out the other day that in the last three years I have covered 22,000 kilometres in 21 different countries and every single one has been alone and unsupported.

“That is in the last three years and I’m trying to get a run in Madagascar off the ground but just trying to get funding for that.

“I’m also writing my book about running the Americas and I have got deadlines for that I am trying to meet.”

Already, he has written more than 90,000 words on the adventure, which saw him leave Vancouver, Canada, in August 2014.

The journey, which saw him pass through 14 different countries, was completed on December 30, 2015, when he crossed the finish line in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Now he will link up with his running mate ahead of taking on the latest gruelling challenge.

Together, the duo are hoping to raise money for the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).

The charity is dedicated to preventing male suicide, which is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK.

Jamie added: “I have run with [Kevin] before and got on quite well with him.

“It will be a weird one and one of those where you don’t know which way it is going to be weird. I’m a road runner, long distance, and he is a mountain runner. He is probably going to be better on the hills and I’m quicker on the flat.”

For more information, go to www.jamieramsay.net