THREE Torfaen men are taking part in a gruelling challenge to raise money for Parkinson's UK.

Gareth Rusby-Davies, Lloyd Bartley and Richard Appleby are running five miles every five hours for 50 hours, coming to a total of 50 miles in 50 hours, starting today.

Mr Rusby-Davies, who is team manager for Pontypool RFC, said that the challenge is in aid of Parkinson’s UK after his uncle was diagnosed with the incurable condition.

They chose to do the challenge after seeing a similar one on Instagram where the run was four miles every four hours for 48 hours and wanted to make it more relevant. He knew that there was five stages of Parkinson’s disease, five major systems in the body and the majority of people diagnosed with the condition are over 50 and so the 5x5x50 challenge was born.

The routes they will take includes from Taylor Wimpey in Cwmbran to Cwmbran Stadium and through the boating lake. There are also routes planed around Abersychan.

To visit the fundraising page, got to https://www.justgiving.com/team/Teambaldduo

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Mr Rusby-Davies said: “Richard and I will be doing a challenge that will test us mentally and physically and from doing this we hope to raise awareness of this horrible disease, along with raising some funds to donate to the charity to help with studies and research for a cure.”

He has spoken of how the disease has affected his uncle over the two years since his diagnosis. Saying how he forgets what he talks about and has very little patience, he also gets cramps in his limbs and doesn’t sleep much.

“He’s gone from never taking a pill to living on loads and his day is ruled by the timing of his pills which is hard work.

“He was the joker, the organiser and always game for a laugh but that is all going.”

Parkinson’s affects around 145,000 people across the UK and causes problems in the brain that get worse over time.

For more information, visit https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/what-parkinsons