THOMAS Cufley is celebrating completing all six of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.

The 33-year-old, who is from Southend, has received the impressive six star finisher medal for his achievements in running 26.2 miles in London, Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

And Cufley dug deep during a gruelling schedule despite being diabetic.

“To compete the majors as a type one diabetic does make me proud but I set out to show other diabetics that it doesn’t stop you achieving your dreams,” said Cufley.

“We run our diabetes and it doesn’t control our lives.

“At the same time I wanted to be thought of as a marathon runner, as with well controlled diabetes it need not make a difference to the performance of diabetics running.

“I’m unbelievably proud to have completed the majors but it still feels a bit surreal because having completed it is a dream.”

Cufley ran the London and Berlin Marathons in 2016 before running in Tokyo and Chicago a year later.

He then ran New York in 2018 before finishing the Boston Marathon in mid-April.

But Cufley only found out about the World Marathon Majors when signing up for his first 26.2 mile race in London.

“I saw the major medal at the London Marathon expo,” confirmed Cufley.

“That was my first running race and when I commented to my mum and fiancé that I could get that medal they both chuckled seeing as I’d yet to run a marathon.”

However, once being bitten by the marathon bug and deciding to sign up for more it was running stateside that gave Cufley his best and worst memories.

“My favourite marathon was New York because I got to run a major at the same time as my fiancé and the crowds were fantastic there too,” said Cufley.

“Chicago was definitely the toughest for me because it was close to 30 degrees, which obviously made it really difficult.”

Closer to home, Cufley also ran the Stour Valley Marathon along the Essex and Suffolk border.

And he remains determined to keep on running.

“I’m just going to focus on enjoying my running with the Flyers Southend and I’m hopeful of improving on some of my personal bests while working with my coach Paul Whittaker,” said Cufley.

“The next dream is to marry my fiancé Sophie, so international running will be taking a backseat for a while.”