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Hopping to it - to make kids smile

Helen Tither
11/ 4/2008

HOPPING around the racetrack, their legs tied together, Karen Fingerhut and Heather Derbyshire are all smiles as they warm up for their Guinness world record-breaking attempt this weekend - in the biggest-ever three-legged race.

Well, it's nothing compared to what they've been doing in training - hopping up all 4,388 steps of Canary Wharf tower only last weekend.

"I've never done anything like this before. Heather's a personal trainer, so she's really putting me through my paces," grins Karen, a 37-year-old housing report writer from Romiley.

"We could hardly walk for a week the first time we went up the tower, our legs were so stiff."

The three-legged world record attempt on Sunday, for which they are still recruiting volunteers, is the first stage of a worldwide fund-raising bid by the boisterous two women, in aid of children's charity When You Wish Upon A Star.

With no previous experience, the two pals - calling themselves Two Fit Birds - have teamed up to create a five- challenge fund-raising extravaganza, taking them across four continents over the course of eight months, kicking off this weekend with challenge one in the UK.

The ultimate aim, to raise a pound for every mile they travel across the globe, completing races and challenges as they go, is to bring £44,000 back for the Manchester charity, which gives holidays of a lifetime to children with life-threatening illnesses.

"Heather and I became friends through the gym," recalls Karen. "We've both always wanted to travel and thought why not do it for charity?

"When we met the children who were going to Lapland with When You Wish Upon A Star, we just knew we had to raise the money for them. It was one of the most humbling experiences I have had. You see these children who might not make it to next Christmas and the excitement on their faces at going to see Santa makes all this hard work worthwhile."

So a plan was born - to do a bigger and better fund-raising challenge than the average hair-shaving stunt. Leaving later this month on a self-funded trip, they will do everything from triathlons to cycle treks, raising money as they go.

"We didn't want to do what everyone else does for charity, so we decided to do five events," says Heather, 29. "Then we thought we'd try and kick it off by breaking a world record, too."

Since then, the girls have been on a strict regime of six-day training schedules, spent cycling and running. The first to admit they're not Olympic athletes, they are still taking every challenge in their three-legged stride.

"I'm not dreading any part of our challenge," smiles Karen, "apart from the flights. I'm really scared of flying and we've got 24 flights to get through. I think I might have to get hypnotised before I go."

Will they make it? The girls have agreed to file back regular progress reports so watch this space for all their fund-raising fun{hellip}

You can join in the three-legged world record attempt, at 11am on Sunday at Woodbank Park Athletics Stadium in Stockport. Visit 2fitbirds.com for more information and progress reports