FANCY running from Liverpool to Leeds and climbing Everest on the way... all in 24 hours? That’s what the incredible challenge faced by one St Helens man stacks up to.

Robert Kennedy, an ex-army best recruit from Laffak, plans to take on the toughest endurance test in England on June 26 – The Bob Graham Round in the Lake District – 42 summits, 72 miles and 28,500 ft ascent in total of over just 24 hours. The dad-of-two is used to doing mountain marathons and represented his army unit in orienteering and cross-country, but this challenge is a significant step-up in difficulty.

Robert told the Star: “It’s really hard - I wanted to push myself.”

To help him go the distance, Robert, aged 34, will be focusing on the sponsorship money that his non-stop challenge will raise, which will go to his chosen charity, Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice.

Robert commented: “As a father, I couldn’t think of a more worthy charity to do this challenge for. I haven’t set a target (for donations) because it’s a sensitive time and people don’t have a lot of money to give, but all donations can help to make a difference.”

And he’s taking the challenge seriously, with a strict training regime that gives him little time to spend with wife, Irene (32) and children, Heidi (3) and Seamus (1).

Robert said, “Since January I’ve started road running around St Helens and Billinge, Wigan, and in the middle of last month that culminated in 20 mile runs. I’m also up at the Lake District every weekend, training for 12 hours a day over 2 days.”

Last month an unexpected dump of snow in the Lakes caused an emotionally exhausting training session for Robert and his old army colleague, Dale Jamieson (34) from Dumfries, who will join him on the 24-hour challenge. But fortunately, they had a stack of jelly babies close by to keep their energy levels up!

Speaking of his training, Robert said: “Initially when we started off there was an ominous cloud over the challenge, but the training programme has been fantastic and now we’re a couple of minutes below our time targets for summit to summit. We feel we’re certainly on course.”

You can follow Rob’s training and progress on the Montane website (www.montane.co.uk/blog/current), where he is a guest blogger for the outdoor clothing specialist. If you would like to sponsor Robert in his challenge, you can donate online at www.justgiving.com/rob-kennedy-bob-graham-round, with all proceeds going to Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice.