A BUSINESSMAN is taking on one of the toughest multi-terrain races in the world to help police officers with physical and mental injuries. 

Matthew Davidson, of Bromborough, will take part in the 250km Fire and Ice foot race in Iceland from Monday, with money he has raised through sponsorship going towards The Police Treatment Centres. 

The charity supports officers following injury, helping them regain health and return to active duty, and is particularly close to Matthew’s heart as his wife Rebecca is a serving police
officer undergoing treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Matthew, 38, who owns the GJ Fitness gym in Bromborough, says this is his toughest running challenge yet.

It will take the father-of-two
five days to complete and is self-supported, with water and tents the only assistance provided by the race organisers.

“This will push me to my physical and mental limit,” admitted Matthew, who will carry a 13kg pack with him.

“I have done many single and two-day events before but never anything of this magnitude.”

The cause Matthew has chosen to run for will drive him on.

He says he has ‘first-hand experience’ of the effects of the physical and mental pressures police officers face on a daily basis. 

The Fire and Ice event bills itself as Iceland’s toughest foot race and “probably the toughest multi-terrain foot race in the world”.

Competitors run unassisted from a glacier in the centre of Iceland to the hot springs near the coast, over constantly changing terrain. 

”It will be a bit like running across the moon,” joked Matthew.

He has set a fundraising target of £5,000.

You can donate to his JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/
fireandice2017.