WHEELCHAIR athletes are taking on their biggest challenge yet to ensure a talented friend can carry on racing.

Anthony Gott, 29, from Helmshore, and two fellow athletes will take on a 105km relay challenge, from Manchester to Blackpool.

The team came up with the idea after Kirsty Grange, 19, who is ranked fifth in the UK for the T54 100m, told them the borrowed wheelchair she uses for racing was being sold.

Mr Gott, who will get the team underway with a 30km first leg, said: “The guy Kirsty is borrowing it off has found a buyer and will sell it within a couple of weeks.

“If she is left without a chair, she will probably lose her high ranking, because she won’t be able to train without it and it takes a very long time to recover upper body strength once it’s lost.”

Mr Gott, Miss Grange’s fiance Stuart Bloor and their friend Daniel Bramall have all had to use borrowed chairs in the past because racing wheelchairs cost upwards of £3,000.

Mr Gott, a member of Clayton-le-Moors Harriers athletics club, said: “Chairs cost a lot of money and when you have no assistance it can just cost too much to afford.

“So you end up borrowing ones designed for another person’s body.”

The chair Miss Grange, a double amputee from the knee down, is currently using leaves her with painful blisters because it was designed for an athlete with only one leg when she has two.

Miss Grange, from Blackley in Manchester, is not eligible for financial assistance from any charities because it stops at 18.

Mr Gott said: “She feels guilty that we’re doing this to get her her own chair, because she never complains or asks for handouts.

“But she’s last in the relay so she will be pushing harder than ever to make our efforts worth while.

“And we’ll all be there at the finishing line cheering her on.”

The Harriers club will be providing team support and escort cyclists to aid the athletes in their challenge.

The team is taking the same route as the cyclists on the Manchester to Blackpool Bike Ride on Sunday, July 14.

To donate, visit their Facebook site, North West Wheelchair Racers – Manchester to Blackpool 105Km Push.