Brothers eye relay record, fuelled by mum's food

Two fundraising brothers who are no stranger to physical feats are preparing for what they say will be their toughest challenge yet - running the entire length of the UK in a continuous relay.

Alfie and Joe Pritchard, from Worcester, will set off from John O'Groats on Monday morning, heading for Land's End, about 837 miles (1,497 km) away.

Between the two of them, they will be running 24 hours a day for more than a week.

"The sleep deprivation part is going to be the killer," said Alfie, 27. "I think after a few nights, it's going to really start hitting home."

Initially, the brothers will be running in shifts of half an hour each, before switching to blocks of two hours during the day and four hours during the night.

While one is running, the other will be eating or sleeping in their camper van, which will be driven by someone else.

They are hoping to set a new record for the fastest two-man relay of the route by completing it in eight days, passing through places including Carlisle, Manchester, Preston, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Worcester, Gloucester, Bristol and Taunton, before crossing Devon and Cornwall.

"One of the good things about this being a relay, even though it's continuous, is that you only have to look forward to the next swap," said Joe, 24. "We'll just think: OK, I've only got two or three more hours to do.

"Mentally, we're not going to picture it as eight days."

He said they would be spurred on by the fact they were doing it for a good cause, with the goal being to raise £10,000 for the veterans' charity Help for Heroes.

Alfie said: "Our veterans have given everything for us, and made a much greater sacrifice than this. Hopefully we can give a bit back to them."

The brothers are committed fundraisers - between them, they have completed a number of physical challenges for charity, including last year when Joe ran on a treadmill non-stop for 24 hours.

The clothing company they co-founded, Mile Pie, also donates 25% of all its profits to charity.

Alfie said they had tried to strike a balance during training between getting as fit as possible and not pushing themselves too far too soon.

"A couple of hours in the morning, a couple of hours in the evening, and then some bigger runs at the weekend," he explained.

"The sleep deprivation, you can't really train too much for that, that's just something you've mentally got to get on with."

Joe added they had also had to train their stomachs.

"This is going to be a food challenge as well," he said. "We need to get over 10,000 calories a day in us, so it's about training the stomach to be able to handle that amount of food and still run."

They have already been stocking up on supplies, and their mum has been hard at work in the kitchen, meaning they can stock up their van with a selection of meals like pasta, lasagne, stews, sausage pie and sweet potatoes.

"She's been an absolute legend," said Alfie.

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