A 60-year-old man from Norwich is pitting himself against one of the toughest and most gruelling endurance events in the world.

It will not be the first IronMan challenge Kevin Rowe has attempted, as he sets out over 140 miles of swimming, cycling and running.

On Friday, Mr Rowe will be looking to complete an IronMan challenge at the Virgin Active gym in Norwich. The effort will see him start the day at 7am with a 2.4 mile swim, which equates to 152 lengths of the pool, followed by a 112 mile bike ride using the gyms exercise bike and finally a 26.2 miles on a treadmill.

'I've undertaken IronMan challenges in the past and love to push my body to the limits,' he said. 'What's different about this challenge is that there is an additional time pressure as I need to have finished by the time the gym closes at 11pm and both the charities that I am raising money for, are very personal to me.'

Mr Rowe's wife, Lesley, works for Spire Norwich Hospital as secretary to consultant spinal surgeon Mr Am Rai. Mr Rowe is raising money for Mr Rai's SpineAid charity as well as the Alzheimers society,

'Mr Rai set up SpineAid with the support of some other of his surgical colleagues to help provide disadvantaged children with spinal treatment in the developing world. They will only be able to treat so many patients per trip, and it must be devastating to turn children away from treatment as resources run low, so raising money will make a huge difference in the number of children they can operate on.'

Mr Rai, Consultant Spinal Surgeon at Spire Norwich Hospital is due to join Mr Rowe for the cycle leg of the challenge and encourages people to come along to the gym on April 21 to cheer them along.

'This is an amazing challenge, and one I feel incredibly humbled by, as his efforts in raising money in this way will make such a difference to people's lives,' he said. 'In many cases, the children I see in Africa and India have conditions which are readily available to be treated in the UK, but due to lack of resources, equipment and expertise, children can spend years dealing with debilitating symptoms.'

Kevin is also raising money recognition for the Alzheimers society for the work they do to support families of people whose loved ones are suffering from vascular dementia. Details of how to donate can be found on Kevins justgiving page – www.justgiving.com/fundraising/IronmanKPR