FANCY a trip to Paris this weekend? Most people would jump at the chance – but what if you had to get there using nothing but your own body power?

That's no car, no Eurostar and even no ferry. You will be running, kayaking and cycling. Still tempted?

Three Croydon men have decided to take on this very challenge in aid of the charity Help for Heroes and leave London at 9am tomorrow (Saturday) on the first leg of their trip.

Gym owner and fitness coach Martin Dilworth, 47, is leading a team of five in the unique charity 'triathlon', which they expect will take them six days.

The team will run from the Tower of London to Dover in three days, equivalent to more than a marathon each day before paddling across the English Channel in kayaks in a day. The final leg of the journey will see them cycle the remaining 220 miles from Calais to Paris over the course of two days.

Dilworth, an ex-serviceman, will be joined by Nigel Hodge, 35, and Stace Fencott, both from Croydon, David Sullivan from Oxted and Penny Ashby, 33, from Pevensey.

The team have been training for at least two hours a day at Dilworth's gym, Dynamo Boxing, in Carlton Road, South Croydon and they aim to raise £25,000 for Help for Heroes, which supports wounded servicemen and women.

Dilworth said: "This will be extremely taxing, with the most daunting and fatiguing parts being getting sore backsides from the two days' cycling, plus the Channel crossing.

"With high winds and choppy seas, you can paddle for hours and get nowhere – plus we'll be dodging ferries and tankers.

"However, it won't be as daunting as having no legs, which is what has happened to many service personnel. One minute they're OK and the next they're looking up at the sky wondering why they can't stand up. They face a future that's uncertain but radically changed.

"In trying to complete this challenge we are inspired by and aim to emulate the positive mental attitude of people who carry on despite horrific injuries.

"These people have motivated us to undertake a real challenge – something that's going to hurt. The endurance required on our part is nothing compared with the endurance they have shown in their fight just to carry on with life."

At 26, Fencott is the youngest of the five but the former Whitgift School pupil is confident he can complete the challenge, particularly with the cause being close to his heart.

"I have several mates in the services and who are ex-servicemen, and one of our trainers at the gym has lost a couple of friends in Afghanistan when he was in the Marines," he said.

"One reason for doing this was to raise money for Help for Heroes, and other was on a personal level to push myself.

"It is a massive challenge but at the same time I don't think we would have gone in for this if we didn't think we could do it. The kayaking will be a whole new experience and although we have only done session on the water we have been adapting our workouts to suit the kayaking."

The event was the brainchild of team member Sullivan, a golf professional who once broke four world records by hitting a golf ball 1,100 miles from Land's End to John O'Groats.

Sullivan, 45, has also completed the London Marathon, once while playing golf and once while carrying a Robin Reliant car.

He said: "You have to come up with something really different when fund-raising, to grab people's attention, and as far as we know no-one else has ever done a triathlon that involves kayaking across the Channel."

If you want to sponsor the team in their efforts to raise money for Help For Heroes, visit: www.justgiving.com/londontoparisgrandprix