By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED: 05:57 EST, 21 October 2013 | UPDATED: 06:09 EST, 21 October 2013 Two friends have battled dehydration, blistering heat and freezing wind to run across America in just 79 days. Friends Stephen Pope, 47, and Chris Finill, 54, crossed 3,100 miles on foot, averaging 40 miles a day, in their epic journey across the continental United States. Their route took them from the Pacific to the Atlantic - from California, through the heat of Nevada, to Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Between them, the pair consumed 12,000 calories and drank 26 pints of fluid a day and exhausted seven pairs of running shoes.
@highlight
Stephen Pope, 47, and Chris Finill, 54, averaged 40 miles a day
@highlight
Run, which began in San Francisco and ended in New York, raised £15,000
@highlight
The money was donated to forces charity Help for Heroes
'We'd timed the trip to get back to @placeholder in time for the marathon,' said Mr Pope.