TWO Dunfermline-based directors at Team Challenge Company set off on their very own challenge on Sunday – trekking across the Arctic in plummeting sub-zero temperatures. Gerard Crowley (41) and Stephen Hazley (50) fly to the Arctic Circle to start the trek and have been practising for the frozen north by skiing in Aberdeenshire!

It’s in aid of Cancer Research UK and on behalf of Mums on the Run, a Dalgety Bay-based fund-raising team set up by Gerard’s wife Deborah following the death of a friend, Jennifer Gasowska, who died of cancer at the age of 35.

“We are still preparing for the big challenge and are both currently Nordic skiing as we speak,” said Gerard. “Nordic skiing is different to your conventional skiing as you are mostly on your toes.

“Our training has been going very well, lots of gym sessions, weight training and more. The cold weather in Scotland has prepared us a bit more for what to expect. I have been up early in my shorts and boots when the weather is at its coldest and pulling a sled I got from Fife Leisure around the track at Pitreavie Playing Fields which has been good!

“We are both confident about the challenge. We have done a lot of training and eating well to build up our muscle but also to eat enough to build the fat so we can stay warm. We have been eating a lot of pasta, chicken and all sorts of health meals.” The ambitious directors of the independent corporate team-building provider featured in the Press in November when training was already under way for the six-hours-a-day, 10-day trek which will cover around 120km across country, up hills and over frozen lakes, towing all their kit on a sledge weighing up to 35Kg – the equivalent of pulling four car tyres.

Stephen added, “The training has almost finished and it has gone well. I don’t think we are going to be breaking any records or anything like that though!

“We have never done anything like this before. We have done the Three Peak Challenge and things like that but nothing on this scale and in extreme conditions like the Arctic.The fact that it is for charity will really pull us through the challenge and keep us going when it gets tough.

“We are expecting temperatures of around minus 30/35C. Living in Scotland certainty helps with the cold climate during training!

“We really want to inspire people to do take on challenges like this one and engage them and help people to get involved and work hard and play hard!” Sir Ranulph Fiennes joins former Prime Minister, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP Gordon Brown, as the big name supporters of Team Challenge Company’s endeavours – both wishing the directors luck on their challenge which they have already raised around £3000 of their £10,000 target.

If you would like to donate to support Gerard and Stephen you can text COLD84 with donation amount to 70070 or visit www.justgiving.com/arcticchallenge2015.