Super fit cop outruns teenager after brawl

LONDON - A Briton who taunted a policeman and then ran away after a brawl got more than he bargained for as the official was an endurance sportsman who easily outran the stunned teenager.

The teenager didn’t have the faintest clue that the policeman was one of the fittest men on the planet and he didn’t have a remote chance of escaping from him, Daily Express reported Sunday.

Acting Sergeant Simon Bourne, 46, is an endurance sportsman and one of a handful of athletes who have been selected to take part in the Ultraman Challenge in Hawaii. He will have to undertake a six-mile ocean swim, a 260-mile bike race and a double marathon — all that in less than 36 hours.

Bourne trains police officers in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

“I was with a trainee late on a Friday night when we were confronted by about 50 drunks out for trouble. When reinforcements arrived we went to arrest the ringleader but he sprinted off. It was quite easy to keep up with him even though I had my uniform on and all the kit I carry.

“He obviously thought he could out-run me but there was no way that was going to happen. He looked pretty upset when I overtook him within a mile,” Bourne was quoted as saying.

He added that his friends call him Robocop.

“I admit I am pretty fanatical about my training regime. Sometimes it is like being in a trance and it becomes a mental challenge. You just have to push your body beyond normal limitations.

“But I love it and training is never a chore - I am never happier than when I am on my own swimming, running or on the bike.”

Bourne trains by swimming 10 miles along a river several times a week, running a full marathon and cycling for up to 150 miles at a stretch.