It was time for some much deserved pampering for Alfredo and his owner, Jim Plunkett-Cole, at Norton Radstock College's Animal Centre after completing their 340th 10k run.

Last week, The Journal reported on the trio's year-long challenge. Inspired by the Olympics, Jim Plunkett-Cole, from Kilmersdon, his dog, Alfredo, fondly known as Alf, and friend, Neil Taylor, from Frome, decided to run at least 10k every day for the whole of 2013 and do some fundraising along the way.

The three runners have had an incredible year, meeting many people and enjoying new experiences along the way. Their story is also travelling far and wide and on Wednesday, they travelled to London after being invited to do a 10k run around the Houses of Parliament during the Prime Minister's Question Time!

Last Friday, 6th December, Jim and Alf completed their daily run, starting and ending at Norton Radstock College, where Alf got a well-deserved grooming session afterwards.

Jim, who works as an economist, had links with the college through his day job and had been invited to stage a run from the grounds by Kevin Connell, one of the staff members from the Animal Centre.

Talking about the past year, Jim said: "Each 10k run usually only takes an hour to 75 minutes – the real challenge and time has gone into the fundraising, getting sponsorship and keeping up with the blogging side."

The 10k a day team have been raising money for several charities throughout the past year, Jim and Neil are raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the UK's only national charity focussing solely on the condition; the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, (which receives no Government funding and costs £1.5 million a year to operate, it literally saves lives every day) and Positive Action on Cancer, which offers a free, one-to-one counselling service for anyone affected by cancer or life-threatening illness. So far, they've managed to raise £8,000.

The team are also running a raffle in the hope that it will push up their total even further, with prizes being donated by a range of supporters, including Mulberry. Raffle tickets are available online through their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/10Kx365">www.facebook.com/10Kx365 Details are also available on their blog: http://www.10Kx365">www.10Kx365.

co.uk Alf has also been raising money, accumulating a total of £1,500 for the Happy Landings animal shelter.

The draw for the raffle will take place on 1st January, after the final run has been completed. The last run of the year will be a 47-mile ultra marathon around the Bristol area on New Year's Eve. Jim, Neil and Alfredo are hoping to be joined by at least twenty others and aim to complete the run in twelve hours.

Speaking about the New Year's Eve challenge, Jim said: "A lot of the people who are joining us for the last run have never run before, so it's going to be a day of great achievement for them. We'll be doing it in sections, so that if people can't manage the whole route, they can still join in."

Looking into the future, Jim and Neil are planning to set up a global challenge to encourage people to walk or run from 1k–10k a day. If you would like to get involved in any of the remaining runs, or to offer sponsorship or raffle prizes, please contact Jim or Neil through their Facebook page, or via Twitter: @10Kx365