A 50-YEAR-OLD window cleaner is punching above his weight after beating more than 400 young bodybuilders in an endurance challenge.

Steve Ellwood, from Wantage, lifted two 16kg dumbbells more than 850 times in 50 minutes to win the Dragan Challenge at Birmingham NEC.

Yet the grandfather-of-two was the only contestant over the age of 30.

The part-time personal trainer said he wanted to win the competition to mark turning 50 after finishing second last year.

He said: “I was determined to win this year – it was a great feeling.

“I got a lot of pats on the back when I finished. I was walking around afterwards and everybody was congratulating me.”

The new national endurance lifting champion, from Park View, in Garston Lane, said his achievement showed age should not be a barrier to fitness.

Heart rate monitors showed his heart was beating as fast as a cyclist competing in the Tour de France.

He said: “It is a very hard working competition – sweat was pouring off me. Everything hurts – from your toes to your head.

“But what I do is I forget about it, and forget about how many I have done and the time flies.”

Mr Ellwood has been lifting weights since he was 11 after his dad bought him a chest expander.

He said: “It makes me feel great. It makes me look better and it makes me feel better.”

He trained four times a week for four months ahead of the challenge.

In a gym in a spare room in his home he practiced with 20kg dumbbells Wife Sandy said his family were proud of his success.

She said: “It is marvellous. He worked really hard. But he is really fit – he is always running about.