A man from Bolberry will be taking on one of Britain’s toughest endurance runs in aid of the mental health charity Mind next month.

Ceri Rees is raising money for the mental health charity and hoping to join a select few who finish the five day 300km Dragon’s Back Race in Wales.

The Dragon’s Back Race began in 1992 as a 300km off piste run across the mountainous spine of Wales. The race involves 16,000 metres of ascent, twice the height of Everest. Participants are expected to be self sufficient and navigate between the checkpoints on each stage, or face disqualification.

Ceri, whose father and grandparents originally come from Wales, says he was inspired to get involved, after reading an account of the epic in a book, which described it as more of a pioneering challenge than a long multi stage event.

Ceri said: “As a new dad I have other priorities now but this event seemed just too compelling not to do.

“I had to check in with myself that it wasn’t just some midlife crisis. The motivation to complete it, will come from the extremely generous donations which people have made towards Mind, even from people I don’t know.”

Ceri’s partner is a special educational needs teacher whose job partly involves children affected by mental health issues, which reinforced his decision to support Mind.

“Funding is being challenged across the board. This effort, which hopefully will only cost me in terms of sweat and lost energy, is my tiny contribution while I get to do something I may never be able to or even want to do in a few years from now,” Ceri added.

In 1992, only 16 pairs finished the race, while in in 2015, the third time the race was held, less than 40 per cent of participants were able to finish.

If you want to sponsor Ceri to complete the 300km challenge, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Ceri-Rees-WildRunner.