Man to attempt 110-mile walk with kettle weights

A man will attempt to walk 110 miles from Shropshire to Manchester, carrying two 20kg kettle bell weights.

Dan Kirkman from Pant then plans to take part in the 10k race at the Great Manchester Run, still carrying them.

He wants to raise money for Cancer Research after losing his father, an uncle and a friend to the disease, and said the hardest part would be keeping grip of the weights.

His challenge will start on Sunday at bridge 82 on the Montgomery Canal, where there is a memorial bench for his father.

Kirkman said he had run 10k races before and wanted to do something more challenging.

He admits to being "no sportsman" and joked his greatest sporting achievement was scoring four goals on the Fifa video game, but he had been inspired by people at his gym in Oswestry.

He said: "When you're surrounded by people who have that belief in you and push you forward, you just believe that anything's possible."

During his preparation for the walk he said he found the most difficult part was supporting his hands and wrists.

"The walking's fine but it is the grip strength, it's holding onto something for that long," he explained.

To take some of the pressure off his wrists he will be wearing harnesses on his arms to support the weight.

Kirkman said he expected to travel about 10 miles a day and had originally planned to do it with a canal barge travelling alongside him to offer support.

But that plan has had to change because of the serious breach in the Llangollen Canal near Whitchurch just before Christmas.

Now he plans to start the walk without the canal boat and meet up with it when he gets to the other side of Whitchurch.

Asked why take on this unusual challenge, he said: "If you ask why too often you never do anything."

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