Intrepid friends head to the snow for people with epilepsy

Intrepid friends head to the snow for people with epilepsy

Intrepid friends from London will fly to Sweden next month to take part in the world’s biggest cross country ski race – The Vasaloppet.

On Sunday 7 March, Simon Harrison from Clapham and Matt Hirst from Hackney will join 14,000 other skiers attempting to complete the 90km race between Salen and Mora in Sweden to raise money for Epilepsy Society (formerly The National Society for Epilepsy or 'NSE').

Their inspiration for this tough challenge is Matt’s brother James, who died suddenly in 2002 after an epileptic seizure.

Simon, 31, said: “James, Matt and I were always very close. As children our families enjoyed skiing holidays together so this will be a fitting way for us to raise money for a cause that is really close to our hearts. We are hoping to raise £2,000 and are already more than halfway there already.”

Although Simon and Matt, 30, are already pretty fit, they have taken on a gruelling training schedule to make sure they achieve the best time they can. This has included 35 mile runs and many hours spent in the gym, especially on the cross trainer. Simon said: “We don’t just want to get round the course; we want to do it well and beat many Swedes at their national sport!” He joked, “Not a lot of foreigners enter this race so we want to do well and get a good time. We intend to wear a union jack on our back so the Swedes know when they are being overtaken by a couple of Brits!”

The dynamic duo will fly out on Thursday 4 March to acclimatise and get ready for their race of a lifetime. Anyone wanting to sponsor them should go to www.justgiving.com/SimonandMattgoxcountry .

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