TWO Bournemouth runners will follow in the footsteps of the 2004 Olympians and tackle the gruelling Athens marathon course next month.

Southbourne's Graham Hadfield, 52 and Boscombe's Mark Antony, 40, will run the 26.2-mile Athens Classic on November 7 for charity.

The pair are raising funds for Gets Kids Going, an organisation that provides sporting equipment for children with disabilities, and hope to raise the profile of disabled athletes.

Unlike the taxing 30 degree Celsius heat faced by the Olympians in August, Graham and Mark will face more bearable temperatures of 17-19 degrees and say they hope to complete the course in four hours.

Mr Hadfield also aims to run four other marathons by April next year to raise £30,000 for Get Kids Going and the Multiple Sclerosis Trust. The gruelling challenge also aims to raise the profile of London's Olympic and Paralympic bid for 2012.

The five-marathon challenge will see Graham run courses in Florida, Egypt and Cyprus and he may even enter the Siberian Ice Marathon, which no British runner has yet tackled.

He only began running this year after embarking on a demanding training schedule sparked by a New Year's resolution to change his unhealthy lifestyle.

Since February, he has run more than 1,600 miles, shed two stones in weight and also begun a new career as a personal trainer.

Mr Hadfield said: "I was smoking 30 cigarettes a day and having a bottle of Jack Daniels with Coke on a Saturday night but I don't smoke or drink at all now."

He spent four months gradually increasing his training to complete his first challenge, finishing April's London Marathon in five hours despite injuring a hamstring.

Mark, who trains with Mr Hadfield's local running club, began running three years ago and also met a personal milestone by finishing the London Marathon.

He was motivated to join Graham's fund-raising challenge by Verwood Paralympic medal-winning cyclist Darren Kenny, who is a member of the Fircroft Bournemouth Arrows Cycling club, for which Mark also rides.

Both athletes train at Healthstyle in Owls Road, Bournemouth, and all of Graham and Mark's running wear has been donated by Top Trainers, Bournemouth and New Balance.

To support Graham, visit www.justgiving.com/grahammarkathens and to find out more about the London 2012 Olympic bid visit www.london2012.org

First published: October 23