A FORMER amateur rugby league player broke through the pain barrier to complete a mammoth cycling route in aid of the Steve Prescott Foundation.

Andy Devaynes, who played for Clock Face Miners for 10 years, decided to take up cycling and regularly travels from his St Helens home to Edge Hill University where he is studying for a PHD.

And he has now taken on the daunting 930-mile Land's End to John O'Groats in seven days taking off on May 20.

Dad-of-two Andy has to push himself to the limit with inflamed Achilles but he was determined to finish the impressive feat.

“I thoroughly enjoyed it with the only ‘dark’ moment being the last hour of the first day with an 11-mile climb in the rain and fading light, thinking if we hadn’t detoured to the Lizard I would be in a nice warm hotel now,” said Andy, 34.

“Each day was a long one with little time to relax and recover but was manageable. The highlight was cycling between Crianlarich and Fort William where the scenery is quite stunning and the welcome we got in the café at John O’Groats with a free hot drink, certificate, medal and entering our names and cause in the visitor book which was totally unexpected.”

Andy, who has also played rugby in the Challenge Cup for Edge Hill, was accompanied by friend Paul Fay for the challenge.

He added: “I was suffering with an inflamed left Achilles over the last three days which was agonising until it warmed up but thinking of what Steve must have been going through inspired me to ‘man up’.

"The head winds were tough the last two days but we still made good pace and were finishing around the time we expected.

"The legs didn’t seem to get fatigued. Instead I seemed to build a level of endurance where as long as I kept eating they would keep turning the pedals."

Andy has already raised more than £1,000 for his efforts. Visit justgiving.com/Andy-Devaynes to donate.