Foot freaks

A blister is one of the most common injuries suffered by endurance runners. It's not surprising since the feet repeatedly rub on the shoes while running, causing painful fluid-filled bubbles to form on the skin.

For Australian ultramarathon runner Nedd Brockman, blisters are just some of the many pains he has had to endure when he embarked on a grueling 3,953-kilometer run from western to eastern Australia.

The 23-year-old electrician from Forbes, New South Wales enumerated the countless injuries he suffered since starting the marathon in Perth City on 1 September.

There were endless joint aches. After 12 days of running, "severe inflammation around a tendon in his shin prevented Brockmann from running at all," according to CNN Sport.

He said he eased his woes by using injectable painkillers and an ankle band that helped lift his foot off the floor.

Brockmann also recalled a lot of knee and foot pains, as well as busted hips. He slept only two hours a night for three weeks, "waking up at 3:30 a.m. to avoid spending too long running in Australia's relentless heat," CNN Sport added.

Even eating was a challenge as he reportedly needed 8,000 and 10,000 calories a day to power his body. He stuffed himself with "bacon and egg rolls, apple turnovers, pancakes, donuts, ham and cheese croissants, chicken wraps, ham and cheese toasties," the report said.

And there were "the sun, the rain, the road trains, the roadkill, the weather, the headwinds," Brockmann told CNN Sport. Running alongside Australia's long, straight roads put him at risk of getting sideswiped by speeding 30-ton trucks.

There was one gross injury that proved unforgettable. His toenails fell off and he had to clean the wound one night in the arid Nullarbor.

"I got into the caravan to spray it with some alcohol, and I saw something moving, and I'm like 'ohhh!' And then, yeah there were five maggots, just feasting away," Brockmann recounted to Demarge.com.

There were a lot of flies in Nullarbor, he remembered. While running sockless, "a fly flew into my toenail and laid in some eggs," he said, explaining how the maggots grew in his toenails.

Brockmann used a cotton bud to scrape the worms out. Then he resumed running.

Brockmann ran more than 50 miles a day for 47 days, crossing the finish line in Bondi Beach on 24 October. His charity run raised $1.5 million for We Are Mobilize, a charity that supports homelessness in Australia.