THREE train drivers have set themselves a challenge of completing an ultramarathon - with a bit of a twist.

Gareth Anthony, 47, of Marshfield, Scott Neale, 45, of Caerphilly and Christian Seymour, 49, of Cardiff, will be carrying ironing boards en route and doing a bit of 'extreme ironing' as they go.

Mr Anthony said: "We are all experienced ultra runners. I’ve always been into extreme sports and about a year ago I mentioned to Scott and Chris about the extreme ironing.

"They brushed me off but then I had a lightbulb moment and thought it would be a great idea to run an ultramarathon as an extreme ironer for charity."

So, the three, who work for Transport for Wales, have entered a 70k ultra marathon from Brecon to Cardiff.

Mr Anthony said: "We’ve done quite a few 100-milers. Myself and Scott will be trying our first 200 mile race in April. So this event is additional training for that too. "

He said: "There are only two guys I could do this with and after a bit of persuading they were on board.

"We are raising money for a charity close to our hearts, which is Wish Upon a Star. I set up a Just Giving page and emailed the event organisers to see if it would be okay if we run the race with an ironing board and iron along with carrying a full race kit.

"They agreed but said we would have to start behind all the other runners and still make the checkpoints.

"Since then we’ve all been out running with our ironing boards. I originally wanted to raise £500 but so far we've raised £2,500 and that is still climbing. The support has been fantastic.

"We have a lot of strange looks and lots of beeps while out running. It’s fantastic. People stop and take videos and selfies. It’s like being a celebrity. Another reason we are doing it is to raise awareness of mental health, this is also very very important to us.

"The oddest reaction was Scott getting stopped by the police at 4am running over Caerphilly mountain to work. He was questioned about why he was carrying the ironing board!"