Two friends have battled dehydration, blistering heat and freezing wind to run across America in just 79 days.

Friends Stephen Pope, 47, and Chris Finill, 54, crossed 3,100 miles on foot, averaging 40 miles a day, in their epic journey across the continental United States.

Their route took them from the Pacific to the Atlantic – from California, through the heat of Nevada, to Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

Between them, the pair consumed 12,000 calories and drank 26 pints of fluid a day and exhausted seven pairs of running shoes.

Their run, which began in San Francisco and ended in New York, raised £15,000 for forces charity Help for Heroes.