A FATHER of two is set to take on a 100 mile challenge for Hope House Children's Hospices this weekend.

James Blackmore is no stranger to ultramarathon distances, having run as far as 40 miles in one go before, but he will be required to push himself even further at the Chester Ultra 100 on May 27, needing to complete the feet within 32 hours.

"It's going to be an extremely tough challenge," said the 33-year-old. "I’m not sure you can fully prepare yourself for this sort of thing, and you’ve just got to hope your body reacts ok. Training has been tough, but I’ve been running home from night shifts and on tired legs after exercise to get used to it."

James, who is from Chirk, first decided to raise money in 2021 when he took on the David Goggins Challenge, which involved running four miles, every four hours for 48 hours.

"That was incredibly tough, but I think this will be even harder again," he said.

James will have his wife Sian, who has family that has used services at Hope House, on hand every 10 miles for support.

"Hope House is a wonderful local charity and does some incredible work in our community and I just want to try and raise as much as possible through doing challenges," added James.

Cat Dowdeswell, Hope House fundraiser, said: "Without the amazing support from people like James we would not be able to here for every family that needs us.

"We wish James all the very best for this huge challenge! We’ll all be cheering you on."

If you would like to sponsor James, then you can do so by visiting: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/james-blackmore15.