Christian Varley briefly broke down in tears 200 yards from the finish of his incredible 19 marathon challenge on Tuesday evening.

As he picked up his two-year-old, Manx flag-waving daughter, Halle, close to the doorway of the Royal Chapel of Saint John, the sheer emotion of almost three weeks of physical torture and mental strain came flooding out.

The 35-year-old then then had to recompose and collect his feelings before completing the last, painful few yards to the foot of Tynwald Hill and climb the 20-odd steps to the top tier where his father Tony waved him over the finish line with a chequered flag.

Lieutenant Governor Sir Richard Gozney was on hand to congratulate the miracle marathon man and make a socially-distanced presentation of a special cup to mark his fantastic achievement.

Christian had been waved and cheered throughout his extended 26.5-mile last push that brought his final mileage to a tally of 498.3 miles.

The same evening, the amount raised for Manx Solidarity Fund by his super-human efforts clicked over £80,000 with the promise of more to come in the days ahead.

Full report in this week’s Manx Independent.