A WEE COUNTY distance runner is gearing up for his toughest challenge yet as he tackles the “coolest marathon on Earth” this year.

David Eveleigh, from Alloa, heads to the Arctic Circle to take on a 26-mile race through Greenland on October 29.

He and friend Kevin Neilson will spend most of this year preparing for the harsh conditions that wait them, after they launched a JustGiving page to support the Rangers Charity Foundation.

“The race is on Kevin’s 39th birthday and I turn 40 just before the race,” David said. “Instead of going abroad and out drinking, we found the marathon online.

“It’s going to be a bit of a challenge and it’s something different for us to do on our birthdays.

“We both do ultra marathons here, it’s something we’re both really into so we’re looking forward to heading out there and giving it a try.”

An ultra marathon is any race that is over the standard marathon distance of 26 miles, with David and Kevin aiming to compete in 62-mile events and 100-mile epics throughout summer.

While the duo are certain the distance will not be an issue, the biggest test will be the conditions they will face in Greenland, with temperatures dropping to less than -15.

“It could be down to -20 whilst we’re out there,” David added. “We’re fit enough to do the distance, but we’ve never ran in conditions like that before.

“We fly over to Copenhagen then get a flight from there to Greenland. We stay there for a couple days before the race to acclimatise.

“Part of the race involves you running across the sea ice with spikes on and part of it looks hilly as well, but we’ve only seen pictures of the route so we don’t know what to expect.”

David and Kevin have chosen the Rangers Charity Foundation to fundraise for and have set a goal of raising £2000 for the veterans charity.

At the time of writing, they have managed to raise more than £500 of this goal.

David said: “Kevin’s a veteran – he was in the army – and Rangers give a lot of money to veterans charities.

“They also give a lot of money to children’s hospitals. We both have children and, god forbid, if we ever had to take them into a hospital...it’s good that the foundation supports that.”

David and Kevin have set up a JustGiving page which can be found at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-eveleigh6.