While thousands will be relaxing over the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May, John Swift will not be settling for the easy option.

The long-time member of Chorley Athletic Club will spend Saturday, May 28 attempting to run 70 miles within 24 hours.

His epic journey will follow the Pennine Way from Gargrave in the West Riding to Edale in the Derbyshire Peak District.

The fact that Swift is 71 years old and one of the few septuagenarians still competing in ultra distance running will not make this personal challenge an easy one and he thinks his biggest problem in preparing for the run will be keeping injury free while building up his training programme.

To maximise his chances he will be assisted by a team of experienced fell runners running in relay with him to ensure safety and to carry extra clothing and essential food.

Swift recently outpaced many younger runners in the Brighton Marathon to dip below four hours.

Currently he is training around 70 miles a week but is intending to lift that to 90 by the end of April.

Twice before, Swift has successfully covered the distance.

As a 56-year-old he completed the Bob Graham Round, a 72-mile, 24-hour tour of 42 of the highest mountains in the Lake District and five years ago he took on another personal challenge running 72 miles along Hadrian’s Wall from Newcastle to the Solway Firth in just over 17 hours.

Swift was moved to take on his latest challenge by the plight of our servicemen in Afghanistan.

Shocked at the sight of so many of them returning from the front line with broken bodies and minds he is planning to support the Help for Heroes charity and is asking people to support the cause by sponsoring him.

*Potential donors can pledge their support by contacting John by email at johnswift.north@gmail.com or through the on-line giving site www.bmycharity.com/70at70tohelpHeroes *John’s training progress can also be followed on his personal blog at http://70at70forheroes.blogspot.com