WOUNDED heroes at a Tidworth recovery centre have begun training to take part in the hardest triathlon in the world.

Tedworth House recently hosted a training weekend for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans hoping to make it through to selection for the Enduroman Arch to Arc challenge.

Heralded as the hardest triathlon in the world, the race requires relay teams to run 87 miles from Marble Arch, London to Dover in Kent, before swimming across the Channel and finishing with an 81-mile bike ride from Calais to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

It has never been attempted by a disabled team before.

One triathlon hopeful in training at Tedworth House is 31-year-old former Captain in the Royal Engineers, Rob Cromey- Hawke.

Rob sustained a traumatic brain injury along with back and spinal injuries and hearing loss during his second tour of Afghanistan in 2012 after the vehicle he was in drove over an Improvised Explosive Device.

The injuries have left him with numerous after-effects including memory loss, dizziness, light sensitivity and chronic back pain.

Keen triathlete Rob said: “I took part in the Invictus Games last year where I won two gold medals. That felt like an amazing achievement but this challenge will be another huge milestone in my recovery.

“It is going to require an enormous amount of training and willpower and for those of us with disabilities, the confidence it will give us if we complete something no one else has done before will be phenomenal.

Help for Heroes make you believe the sky is the limit in your recovery and this challenge is just another example of the massive faith the charity has in us and how much belief they give us to complete something we never thought possible.”

The training programme will run for nine months before the event on Saturday, 26 September.

Help for Heroes is hoping to enter four teams of six, including an elite team and an all-female team.

Martin Colclough, head of sports recovery at Help for Heroes, said: “The Arch to Arc challenge provides a fantastic opportunity for wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans to use this exciting sport as part of their recovery journey.”

Visit helpforheroes.org.uk.