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Friends take on seven marathons in seven days

Debbie Granville PR Chris Helberg and Chris Bryer-Ash running on a road at the start of their seven-day challenge. They are being cheered by a man standing at the side of the road and are being followed by a woman on a bicycle.Debbie Granville PR
The friends began their seven-day challenge near Wareham

Two childhood friends are taking on seven marathons in seven days across Dorset.

Chris Helberg and Chris Bryer-Ash, who started the running challenge on Monday morning, are raising money for a charity supporting cancer patients.

The pair began training in October - each running at total of 1,500 miles (2,500km) - but neither has run a full marathon distance - 26.2 miles (42.1km) - in one go before.

They set off from near Corfe Castle at about 09:30 GMT in the direction of Sandbanks.

Before embarking on the challenge, Mr Helberg said they were "nervous but feeling good".

He said: "The biggest thing is that we've never run a marathon before.

"The furthest I've run is 40km so this week is going to be interesting to say the least."

Debbie Granville PR Chris Bryer-Ash and Chris Helberg posing side-by side in white charity training topsDebbie Granville PR
Chris Bryer-Ash and Chris Helberg are raising money for Dorset Cancer Care Foundation

Mr Bryer-Ash said: "We've got different routes every day.

"We've tried to keep the elevation to a minimum - we've trained hard but we're not super experienced runners.

"We're excited to explore different parts of Dorset."

The friends have already raised more than £61,000 for the Dorset Cancer Care Foundation.

Mr Helberg said: "They [the charity] support people with financial hardship.

"When you are going through cancer, you shouldn't be worrying about how you pay your mortgage or get to your hospital appointment.

"They take all these worries away from you."

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