HE'S been rained on, besieged by the media, even missed Wimbledon and the World Cup, but for king of the coasters Richard Rodrigues it's all been worth it.

The American finally ended his Big Dipper marathon at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in a blaze of publicity on Monday, having clocked up 1,013 hours.

Six weeks earlier he had set out to crack 600 hours, at the same time as another record breaker in Canada, but as he told the Citizen: "He dropped out and I told myself I'd already done 700 hours so I might as well carry on."

Richard, pictured, says the hardest part was the weather. "It's been a very cold, windy summer which wears you down, so in one sense I'm glad to be off the Big Dipper and dry again.

"On the other hand everyone here has been very supportive so I miss it already.

"The highlight was the people who came to see me, whole families coming to bring me things and wish me well."

With just one hour's reprieve each day to shower and have a hot meal, there was little chance for Richard to catch up with what was happening elsewhere.

"I've tried to keep on top by reading the newspapers and listening to the radio," he said, but added that the ride operators were invaluable in feeding him World Cup and Wimbledon news.

Richard's certainly a glutton for punishment, determined to come back and defend his record whenever it's under threat.

He explained: "If someone wants to break the record I want to come back and stop them. I'll be watching very carefully and I'm concerned about the guy from Montreal in case he tries to do it again."

And you can bet it will be at the Pleasure Beach, which he describes as "my favourite park in all the world. The owner of the park, Geoffrey Thompson has been so open minded about the marathon so I want to come back."

The feeling is mutual with Mr Thompson giving Richard a Gold Key to the Pleasure Beach, allowing him to ride any attraction at any time.

For now, though, he's happy just having a tour of England. "It's a beautiful country," he said, "and I want to enjoy it from stable ground."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.