A NORTH-East student has completed the toughest race on Earth despite suffering a broken leg with 100 miles still to go.

Durham University student James Tufnell stumbled down a sand dune during the Marathon de Sables, a 155-mile “ultra marathon” through the heat of the Sahara desert, smashing his ankle and fracturing his tibia.

But despite the crippling injuries, the 20-year-old got up, got on with it and completed the gruelling challenge, even carrying his own food, water and sleeping kit through heat topping 50 degrees.

“I don’t really remember how it happened, I think I was running down a sand dune and jarred my leg on a rock,” he said.

“I remember stumbling and swearing a lot, but I didn’t fall.

“It went into shock and then a couple of minutes later there was something blindingly obviously wrong.”

The second year archaeology student suffered the injury during the longest, 60-mile, stage of the race but, chased by a camel signifying the cut-off time, finished the final stage with ten minutes to spare.

Mr Tufnell hailed Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who was also taking part, saying the explorer “saved my race”.

“We were both in a pretty bad way. As I ran past him I said: ‘Sir Ranulph, from the youngest Briton to the oldest, in the immortal words of Winston Churchill, keep buggering on’.

“He actually found it pretty funny and we spent a lot of time leap-frogging each other. He would overtake me on the flats and I would take him on the dunes.”

The Oxford-born student entered the race following a conversation at the pub, when a friend said the only thing he couldn’t do was the Marathon de Sables.

The former England rower filled out the application there and then on his phone while his friend bought the next round of drinks.

“It was a bit bizarre. One of the problems with the digital age is the ease with which we can do things,” he reflected.

Mr Tufnell is raising money for the learning disability charity Mencap and has already topped £10,000. To sponsor him, visit justgiving.com/james-tufnell2015