Newport-based property auctioneer Paul Fosh will be back home this week after coming fourth in one of the toughest endurance races on earth - all set for his next property auction on Thursday.

Paul, aged 48, owner of Paul Fosh Auctions, completed the 350-mile Likeys 6633 Ultra marathon in the Canadian Arctic - one of just eight to finish the distance from a field of 29 entrants from 11 different countries.

Paul, speaking after crossing the finishing line after the event, which started on March 20 and ended on March 28, said: “I can’t really believe what I have managed to achieve. It’s still sinking in. I’m absolutely ecstatic and totally exhausted.”

The father of four, who lives in Monmouth, trained for almost a year for the race, including time acclimatising in an industrial freezer in Monmouth pasty shop Pasty Heaven. He signed up for the 120-mile distance with the option to carry on for the full 350 miles distance, if he felt able.

Paul is hoping to raise £15,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The unique event, carried out in temperatures of -30c, sees competitors pull pulks, or sleds, packed with all the competitors can need for the eight days.

Fellow Gwent competitor, Newport accountant Gary Parker, of Parker & Co Accountants, who had entered for the 120-mile event, pulled out after 70 miles when adverse weather conditions and snow drifts caused road closure of the Dempster Highway forcing entrants to go back and forth along the same route until conditions improved.

The Likeys 6633 Ultra, a non stop self-sufficient foot race that crosses the line of the Arctic Circle and continues on the banks of the of the Arctic Ocean at Tuktoyaktuk, has been staged six times in the past with just 11 managing to complete the gruelling course over that time.

A spokesman for the event organisers, commenting on Facebook as the gritty auctioneer crossed the line at midnight on Friday in Tuktoyaktuk, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, said: "Paul has been meticulous with his preparation and execution of his race so seeing him cross the line is nothing less than he deserved.

"This race has been dubbed by many as the toughest race on the planet. It’s a reputation that is being maintained and justified."

Paul was recuperating in Whitehorse, Canada, at the weekend, after travelling back south from Eagle Plains from where his monumental trek had started, in readiness for his flight back to the UK.

Sean Roper, of Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions, together with the rest of the team has been following Paul every step of the way on Facebook.

Sean said: "A huge congratulations to Paul, after walking an incredible 350 mile journey across the Canadian Arctic.

"We are all so very proud of him and what he has done.

"The 6633 Likeys Ultra is regarded as one of the toughest and dangerous races of its kind in the world, with only a handful of people ever completing. Paul is now part of that elite band of people who have completed this event.

"Paul's determination, will power and motivation is quite remarkable. We can't wait to have him back at Paul Fosh Auctions HQ here in Newport to tell us all about it and how he managed such a tremendous feat."

Paul, who only completed his first ultra marathon in 2012 - 46 miles in the Brecon Beacons - was sponsored for the Likeys 6633 by HSJ Accountants, Quality Solicitors Rubin Lewis O'Brien, Paul Fosh Auctions, Rightmove/Agent's Giving and Auction Finance.