A WREXHAM man will be taking on a 'huge and unique' challenge for a worthy cause.

Paul Edwards, 55 is a marathon and ultramarathon runner from Penycae, but has challenged himself to go the extra mile to raise funds for the Hope House children's hospice and Ty Gobaith children's hospice.

On Saturday, August 29, he will be taking part in a sponsored run for 600 miles unsupported from Fort William in Scotland to Penycae.

And the challenge does not end there. He will also be climbing the national three peaks - Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon on the way, before walking the remaining 60 miles to finish on Saturday, September 19 at the Cross Foxes pub in my village of Penycae.

Paul said: "I have planned the route to make each day approximately 27 miles long and I will be staying at B&B's at the end of each day. I choose the Hope House & Ty Gobaith children's hospices as they do wonderful work in helping children and their families in the most difficult of times.

"They do not receive government funding and rely on donations as their only income. I have run 97marathons and ultramarathons on all types of terrain from mountains to deserts to athletic tracks.

"I have run in Australia, Europe and Africa. I've finished the Marathon des Sables in 2017 (a 156miles multi-stage ultra in the Sahara desert) four months after that I completed the Ultra Great Britain which is a single stage 205miles ultramarathon that starts at the seafront in Southport on the west coast and finishes on the seafront in Hornsey on the east coast.

"Last year I walked from the Principality Stadium Cardiff to the Racecourse Ground Wrexham, a distance of 150.8miles, solo and unsupported for the Hope House children's hospice in Oswestry and in September last year I finished an incredibly tough event in America called the Grand2Grand Ultra, which is a 171miles multi-stage ultra running event.

"It starts at the North rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and finishes at the top of Bryce Canyon in Utah. I would like to stress that I am walking the whole route solo and without any support crew, team or vehicular assistance and I am doing this as a sponsored challenge for the Hope House and Ty Gobaith children's hospices ."

Anyone wishing to donate can do so online at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Paul-Edwards500miles

Paul added: "I have completed many, many events and challenges for various charities in the past but this will be by far the biggest. I have registered this event/challenge with the fund-raising team at the hospice and I have set up a justgiving page, as always, to help with the fund raising.

"I self fund all of my charity work and every penny I raise goes to the hospice. Anything I receive will be greatly appreciated and will be of great benefit to both the hospice and myself as I attempt this very tough challenge."