Richard Rout and wife Caroline Brooks run length of Suffolk

Councillor Richard Rout, whose day job usually involves looking at major infrastructure projects at the county council, decided to lace up his trainers to run from the border with Cambridgeshire to Southwold, covering 107km (67 miles) in total, with his wife Caroline Brooks.

The effort was the last stage of the duo’s commitment to cover 1,501km (932 miles) on foot between September 15 and November 17 to raise money for Dog Valley Rescue Centre, in Cyprus - one kilometre for each dog rescued and rehomed by the charity.

Richard Rout raised money to support the charity in Cyprus (Image: Richard Rout)

He said: “There are so many good causes out there, both at home and overseas, and it’s always hard to choose the right one but this is one we’ve got a personal connection with.

“[Dog Valley] are at risk of closure and we wanted to do something really unique for them - it was all good fun for a good cause.”

In a Facebook post, Dog Valley said: “This amazing couple not only adopted multiple shy dogs that no one else wanted from our shelter, they are also fundraising to help us avoid closure!

“We couldn’t be more grateful for this selfless gesture of pure kindness.”

The charity has to raise €200,000 by March after they were told their landlord wanted to sell the land housing the shelter.

Caroline Brooks with a rescue dog (Image: Richard Rout)

Mr Rout stressed the importance of the charity’s survival given the "quite acute" mistreatment of the four-legged friends in countries like Cyprus, Romania, and Turkey, with the duo having fostered five dogs from the shelter.

He added: “Dog Valley is an incredible volunteer-run organisation in a country where being a stray dog is unforgiving.

“Without the likes of Dog Valley, stray dogs in Cyprus are sent to municipal ‘kill shelters’ where the outlook for these wonderful animals is beyond bleak.”

Battling through sun, rain, mud and blisters, the pair’s efforts, which took them from one end of the county to another, over two marathons in a single day, resulted in £2,340 raised so far.

Although not quite in shape to commit to another adventure just yet, the couple have said they would like to do something special to continue the efforts.