Having recovered from his bout with food poisoning, Butter moved on from Estonia to Riga, Latvia. Rather than a flight he was able to take a luxury bus but was nearly boiled alive by the driver who insisted on keeping the heating at a scorching 84°F.

He describes his Riga marathon as a long, cold, boring slog. Running out of the city he felt that the suburbs became progressively poorer, with bleak Soviet-era architecture and sullen unhappy faces. He was relieved to quickly be on to marathon number 95 in Lithuania.

Day 338 marked the halfway point of Butter's expedition, with another 338 days planned in order to complete his quest for all 196 countries. In Copenhagen Butter had met a Lithuanian named Mundungous, who kindly helped organise his run for Vilnius. Butter was able to run alongside 100 other runners, with branded “Running the World 196” medals provided by Red Bull! The next day Butter enjoyed his final rest day of the year.

Belarus was next for marathon number 96, a big milestone for Butter as it means just 100 remain. The run in Minsk was bleak, with a grey sky and cold conditions.

Day 342 and Butter had moved on to Kiev, Ukraine. Butter enjoyed a beautiful snowy run through the silent countryside, running alongside his friend, Andy. Completing a marathon completely on snow and ice meant an extra strain on his muscles but he enjoyed the solitude.

Butter has now flown to Moldova but he managed to squeeze in a visit to Chernobyl first, an area devastated by a nuclear disaster in 1986. He's currently gearing up for marathon 98.