Swimming, cycling and running more than 200km in temperatures nearing 30C may not be everyone’s idea of a fun time – but two Cumbrian athletes will be doing just that next week.

Carl Wilkowski and Gary Miller are in their final stages of training as they prepare to head off to the Balearic Islands, where they will compete in IRONMAN Mallorca on September 24.

The pair, who recently completed the Lakesman Triathlon in their native Cumbria, are aiming to raise £5,000 to support their friend Paul Irving who was recently diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Since his diagnosis, Paul, who is 40, and a married father of two, has had to stop work and has limited mobility.

But Gary, 43, says that both he and Carl, from Thurstonfield, are on a mission to ensure that he still has a good quality of life and want to raise money to buy equipment that will ensure he can still enjoy spending time with son Alfie, daughter Lily and wife Nicola.

“We recently did the Lakesman Triathlon and we’ve been training for this for nearly a year,” said Gary, who lives in Baldwinholme, near Carlisle.

“We’d already signed up for it, but after Paul was diagnosed, we decided that we wanted to raise money to help him.”

The pair will start the event, in Alcúdia, with a 3.8km swim, before returning to land where they will get on their bikes for a 180km ride.

They will then finish with a gruelling 42.2km run.

But despite their experience, Gary says he is expecting this event to be very different to what they have endured before.

“The heat is going to be a big factor,” he added. “All the other triathlons we’ve done before have been in England or Wales.

“The other thing is that it involves a sea swim, which we’ve not done before either so that could be difficult.”

With the money they raise, Gary and Carl are hoping it will be enough to buy equipment including a wheelchair and stairlift.

“Because he’s been recently diagnosed, there isn’t the funding available,” Gary said.

“We just wanted to help out.”

The pair have already raised more than £4,000 and are closing in on their £5,000 target.

“We’ve done well so far, so we just want that final push,” Gary added.

“If we get past the target, then we’d probably want to make a donation to a motor neurone disease charity.”

Anyone who wishes to make a donation to Carl and Gary’s cause can do so by visiting www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/gary-miller