Next step the roof of the world

THIRSTY work . . . Bryn Hughes and his supporters raise a glass at a fundraising trek at Marsden flight, near Butterley Reservoir

THE father of murdered PC Nicola Hughes is a step closer to his goal to complete a marathon in his daughter’s memory.

Bryn, from Diggle, lost his daughter when she and fellow PC Fiona Bone were killed last year.

Since then Bryn, with friends Rob Stapleton and Mark Sharples, has undertaken a strict training regime so he can compete in the North Pole Marathon in 2014. to raise money for three charities.

The trio hope to join the 255 people from 38 nations who have already completed the northernmost marathon on the planet, run entirely on sea ice in temperatures ranging from -20 to -37C.

As part of their training regime the three decided to turn one of their training sessions into a fund-raiser — and friends and families volunteered to join in, running up and down the Marsden flight of locks 25 times.

After covering a distance equivalent to 2.5 times the height of New York’s Empire State Building, the group made more than £1,300.

Victim Support, COPS (Care of Police Survivors) and the North West Police Benevolent Fund will be beneficiariesof the Arctic marathon run. Details at northpolerun@btinternet.com