Once upon a time, back in February, John and Helen were casually trading in some good natured observations about each other's weight, age and height in the true spirit of some good old-fashioned workplace bullying.

To the standard observer, this conversation would have appeared no different to any other that had taken place between the 2 since an unintentional, but fierce competition had emerged since their participation in the Brentwood Half Marathon more that 6 years ago, a competition that has since seen success, failure, achievement and yes, utter shame!

The keen observer, however, would have noticed  a difference to this engagement. A certain edge, if you will. For in this encounter of verbal abuse was born an idea, a challenge of such magnitude that it would dwarf all that had gone before it. For this conversation saw the birth of the Breca Swimrun Gower Challenge!!

As the title  suggests, the event consists of swimming and running and will take place on 19th August on the Gower Peninsular. In all, the race will involve approximately 6k of open water swimming and 40k of trail running.

Now to some, this might be challenge enough, but some might say that many people complete races and challenges more difficult than this all the time. However, to add weight to the above commentary (and a fact that neither participant was aware of when they signed up) the whole event will need to be completed in a wetsuit!

You can find out more about the event at www.brecaswimrun.com/breca-gower.

The above being said, the event itself is not truly the monumental challenge of which we speak, but merely a vessel to accommodate and facilitate the true test of endurance and patience that we intend to undertake. For in this event, we will not be racing against each other, but as a team, meaning that abuse will need to be replaced with resolve, insults with encouragement, and criticism with exhaustion, eventually crossing the finish line together.

Anyone that knows us will understand the herculean effort this will require and, if we make it without killing one another, the titanic scale of what we would have achieved. For, let's face it, 6 months ago, 6-8 hours of being pleasant to each other would have been almost unimaginable.

So having told you about our challenge, here's the part where we ask you for money. We are entering this race to raise money for the Wales Air Ambulance and hope you will support us by donating your hard-earned cash.

Wales Air Ambulance is solely funded by the people of Wales and requires £6.5 million a year to keep its 4 Helicopters in the sky serving Wales and saving lives.WAA can be anywhere in Wales within 20 minutes and operates its latest 4th aircraft as Wales Children's Air Ambulance that can transfer premature and new born infants to the required hospital for life-saving treatment.Your donations will help keep this vital service in Wales and allow for patients to be taken quickly in their time of need to the most appropriate hospital.

We'd like to thank you for taking the time to read our story and remember, if you're short of some entertainment on the 19th August, please feel free to pop along to any of the checkpoints to hurl some support (or abuse at us) as we drag ourselves passed.

All the best.

John & Helen