A hospital’s staff member who raised £125,000 after running in more than 30 marathons has retired following 45 years of service.

Catering storeman Lolo Leyenda raced in 33 London Virgin Marathons, as well as events in Madrid and Paris, for Putney’s Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability (RHN) in West Hill.

He completed them alongside resident Deirdre Tydd, who is also a personal friend, while only registering two days of absence in his nearly five decades at the hospital since 1972.

The 70-year-old met several royals, including the Queen, Prince Charles and Princess Diana while he was also a torchbearer at the 2012 London Paralympics.

Mr Leyenda said: “Sometimes you run it for the place [you work in]. You see the people and sometimes you try to help people. Maybe someday someone will run it for me, you never know.

“I’m not going crazy [in the marathons]. It’s better that you go 20 minutes longer than do it quickly. My family kept telling me, ‘Come on, keep going, keep going’.

“Deirdre was the patient who was raising the money for me. Every time I would run, she would collect the money for the hospital.”

He was presented with gifts before the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability’s chief executive Paul Alan made a speech about his exceptional time at the facility.

He is now moving back to Galicia, northern Spain, with his wife before coming back to run in the London Marathon next year.

Jane Beavan, RHN’s director of fundraising and communications, said: “We are really going to miss Lolo.

“He was a cheery presence around the RHN, and was very well loved.”