Dr Steve Evans was enjoying a cup of tea with his wife, Lottie, yesterday after abandoning due to sickness his extreme challenge to walk across Alaska. He said it would have been irresponsible of him to continue. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0735542)

IT WAS supposed to be a final meal to set him up for the journey ahead.

But the hearty traditional American breakfast Steve Evans tucked into before beginning a 350-mile Alaskan endurance challenge now seems the most likely cause of a stomach bug which forced him to pull out after three days.

‘It doesn’t matter how much training you do, you need a bit of luck as well,’ said Dr Evans, who is married to Lottie and has two sons, Joel, 9, and five-year-old Noah.

The consultant geriatrician, based at the Medical Specialist Group, had been training for the Iditarod Trial Invitational for 12 months.

He left Guernsey for Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday 26 February and started the race with just under 50 competitors on the Sunday lunchtime after that.

‘I tried to eat something on the morning we set off but couldn’t keep anything down, I thought it was just pre-race nerves,’ he said.

Previously, when Dr Evans had raced in the Northwest Territories he had to consume 6,000 calories a day from freeze-dried meals and still lost more than five kilos.

Over the three days he took part, Dr Evans managed to eat only two bowls of soup and half a bowl of porridge.

‘I was OK as long as I was on the flat but as soon as I was going up or down hill I was exhausted.’