More than 100 people will start off and most will not finish - but Carlisle athlete Paul Wilson is hoping to be among the victors.

The 42-year-old, from the Yewdale area of the city, is gearing up to take on the Spine, an event dubbed Britain's most brutal race.

It's a 268-mile course through the Pennines. When Paul tackled it two years ago it took him five days to complete.

The gruelling event starts at 8am on Sunday morning in Edale, Derbyshire, with the 127-strong field asked to navigate a course through the Peak District, Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cumbria and the Borders.

"As well the 268 miles it's a 42,000 ft ascent," said Paul, who works at the Pirelli factory in Carlisle.

"I'm hoping to do it in five days again, the time limit is seven days."

Last time around Paul finished 13th out of 90 competitors - most did not complete the course.

Father-of-three Paul will have to carry all the necessary equipment he needs for the trek.

But he will have a support team helping him along the way.

"Apparently it's the hardest race in Europe, it's dubbed as Britain's toughest race and that's not a disputed fact," Paul added.

"I'm sure last time there were about 90 people who started but only about one third of people managed to finish it.

"This time I wanted to go back and see if I can do any better. I learned so much from the first time.

"I'd only done a few endurance races before that one.

"But now I've done a few more and I've been working with various people I think I can do better, so that's what I'm going to do."

In order to prepare for what lies ahead Paul has spent the last year training every day.

He's been averaging about 40 to 50 miles per week running and has been scaling the Lake District fells in preparation.

He's also been working with strength and conditioning coach Iain Martin, who is based out of Carlisle's Lifestyle gym, and physiotherapist Dan Anderton.

"There's a lot of work gone into this. Every little niggle I've had I've been going to see the physio to make sure I'm ready."

Paul, who works in the factory's operational quality department, will be cheered on by his fiancee Angela Brown, children Abbie, 16, Daniel, 10, Emily, eight, and step-son Zack, six.