The former professional ironman and Gunnedah local took out Ironman 70.3 in May.

He then backed it up with further success at the inaugural Beach to Brother marathon on Sunday.

The 38-year-old completed the 70.3 course in a time of four hours, 13 minutes and 22 seconds four months ago, but it was a different challenge when going off the beaten track.

He completed the run from Town Beach to the top of North Brother Mountain in a time of just over four hours.

Organiser Michael Maher said Loveridge had to push himself to the limit and despite having Ironman experience, the course was a significant challenge.

It wasn’t easy.

“He did mention at one point that he hadn’t trained much for trails but he loved it and said it was nice to have some off-season type of activity that he could participate in,” Maher said.

“He didn’t make any comment in relation to how it compared to events like Ironman, but he definitely told me it was a big challenge; a difficult run.”

Organisers suggested prior to the event that if any competitor completed the full course in under three hours they would get their money back.

“No one pulled off the sub-three hour so I’m quite happy with that from a financial perspective,” Maher said.

“But it also goes to show how difficult the course actually is and it’s not a course you can just waltz into and finish easily, it’s something you have to work for.”

Maher said the inaugural event went off without a hitch with close to 200 locals competing in the event.

“The feedback I have received has been overwhelming,” he said.

“But more than anything they’re very happy we’ve been able to bring such an event to the region.

“It was a fantastic day, the whole event went very smoothly and there were no hiccups or injuries.

“Everyone is saying they can’t wait to come back next year and they can’t wait to bring some more friends and family with them.”

Maher said it wasn’t just about the full marathon with several hundred runners also filling positions in the half-marathon and 10-kilometre run.

“The half marathon and the 10 kilometre times people pulled out were phenomenal,” he said.

Organisers will now evaluate what happened out on the course to see how they can improve for 2017.

“We’ll see how many numbers were out there on the course at any one time and wait for some feedback and go from there,” Maher said.

“From my perspective of watching the day pan out it will definitely be bigger and better next year.”