Imagine walking 30 miles alone in snow across baron sub-arctic terrain, in tempratures as low as -46C, and all your training has to be completed in the desert. Doesn’t sound too difficult, I suppose, but that is only day one. Another 400 miles of the same frozen landscape await you over the subsequent twelve days. Suddenly the couch looks a much better option.

430 miles of harsh terrain in dangerous conditions is what John Quinn is aiming to do in the Yukon Arctic Ultra (February 6th-19th 2011). It's the worlds toughest and coldest ultra marathon. www.arcticultra.de

He is doing all this to raise money for a charity that we are involved in, back in the UK called MAC (www.manchesteraidforchildren.org) a charity currently involved in building a community village in Musanga area of the Zambian Copper Belt for orphaned children who have lost both parents to HIV/AIDS