Paralympian Richard Whitehead: I did not get credit I deserved for 40 marathons in 40 days There is a heroic quality about Whitehead from his bulging physique and even the way he swings his legs and powers from the hips and shoulders, like two compasses swinging. The marathon effort ended up feeling like a form of perdition but if he learnt one thing about himself, he reckons, it is that his body "is a machine." "Mentally, I am tougher than what my body says I can do," says Whitehead. My body gave in a long time before I got to the finish, but I dug deep and found I had a mental toughness greater than I had ever envisaged. I've never been given a silver spoon, and I've always had to work for things in life - the Paralympic gold medal, a place on the swimming team when I was a kid. I've always had to work extra hard to prove people wrong. There was a degree of surprise when Whitehead was mentioned, but not prominently, in the Sports Personality of the Year Award. Whitehead admits to a degree of disappointment. Unfortunately, it's the politics of sport. I went to the World Championships two weeks before doing that challenge - regained my world title - and it wasn't recognised in the way that I wanted it to be. They didn't get it right, I think. Although a 200m sprinter, Whitehead favours marathon running. His best time over the longer distance is 2hr 42 min. The whole challenge of the 40 marathons was about trying to find a way of using my special position in being a gold medallist from the Games. I'm looking at an end goal. I've realised that sport is not about winning medals; it's about the impact that you can have on people. I want to inspire people by my journey. And I love what I do. I love running. The low moments started early on in Glencoe but intensified on the long, long last days through Cornwall. There were really dark days, even early on. I had to continue to motivate myself to get up, run 26 miles up hills, down hills, face the heat, and the exhaustion. The last five days of the run were tough. There were some 50, 60 70 degree climbs. In those times I didn't want to get up. In my real dark times, I was joined by cancer sufferers, people who inspired me to keep going. "I thought "Is this really worth it? Putting my body through this every day? But the challenges really made me realise that there's a greater thing than sport. It's about doing work for other people and helping people on their journeys. Physically, he was a wreck midway through the run. The prosthetic legs and the blisters I had were a real issue. Just sore, generally. Mentally, I was very fatigued. I lost weight. Every day my body was changing. By the end it had completely changed. It was something that made me stronger, mentally. I feel that when I go back on to the track, I've got an edge over my competitors because of what I've been through this year, because of the people I've worked with. I've now got lots of stories, lots of people that continue to inspire me on the track when times get tough. What I did this year is something that I'd recommend for all athletes. Push the barriers to do something extraordinary, to discover what kind of athletes they really are. Hopefully, I went on to show that Paralympic athletes aren't just Paralympic athletes, but we're extraordinary people. He did it, a thousand times over. Richard Whitehead is a sporting hero of 2013.