A TEAM of kind-hearted athletes have arrived in Nepal to tackle the gruelling Everest Marathon -- and raise £50,000 for charity.

Seven runners from Clayton-le-Moors Harriers are attempting to change the lives of local disabled athletes by running 26 miles at altitudes of up to 17,000ft.

The challenge has been organised by experienced runner Garry Wilkinson, 41, from Billington, who completed the run in 1999, finishing in a fantastic third place behind two Nepalese runners.

On this trip he is joined by Neil Worswick, 37, from Worsthorne, Tyrone Morgan, 41, from Billington, John Roche, 47, from Burnley, Mark Brown, 44, from Burnley, Pete Booth, 55, from Burnley, and Candice Leah, 27, from Colne.

The inspiration for the trip came after watching last year's Athens Paralympics, at which Mark competed in the 5,000m.

It was then that the team decided that they wanted to raise money for a charity that was aligned with sport.

They have been raising sponsorship money which is to be split between two causes. They are the Get Kids Going charity, which supplies sports wheelchairs and Blackpool-based wheelchair athlete Shelly Woods, who is looking to reach the Paralympics at Beijing in 2008.

Clayton Harriers president Don Barton said: "It is a tremendous event and one which I'm sure they will do very well in.

"They are a good group and they will stick together."

The team arrived in Nepal on November 2 to prepare for the race, which takes place on November 21.

The start line is at Gorak Shep, close to the Everest Base Camp, but to get there the Clayton group have to complete a 16-day trek, which they began at the end of last week.

Peter Hartley, who has joined the group in the mountains, said: "The trek is going well so far, taking us over spectacular narrow suspension bridges. The trail in places is very rough and steep.

"The team have been on their first training run but are being careful as a few people are already starting to suffer with headaches and stomach problems."

The race course is mostly downhill over rough mountain trails and ends at the Sherpa town of Namche Bazaar.