With just under two weeks to go the teams taking part in the eleventh annual Ford Ranger Great Lakeland Challenge on May 18 are making their final preparations for the gruelling challenge ahead.

A unique triathlon that involves canoeing followed by cycling and then fell running, the Challenge will see teams push themselves to the limit of their endurance - and often beyond - as they bid to conquer England's longest lake, steepest passes and highest mountain.

Each team of three athletes - assisted by a support driver in a Ranger or Galaxy vehicle supplied by main sponsor Ford - will canoe the length of Lake Windermere (10.5 miles), cycle 26 miles over the Hard Knott and Wrynose passes and scale the mighty Scafell Pike (3,208 ft). Their aim is to complete the Challenge inside 12 hours, as they bid to raise at least £4,400 for Wooden Spoon.

Wooden Spoon, which is the charity of British and Irish rugby, uses the money generated by the Ford Ranger Great Lakeland Challenge - more than £1 million since its inception in 1997 - to support children and young adults who are disadvantaged physically, socially or mentally.

"The combination of disciplines is extremely demanding and the weather is always something of a lottery, so I'd like to wish our intrepid Challengers the very best of luck for this year's event," says Wooden Spoon's chief executive Geoff Morris, who will be helping out as a marshal.

"We look forward to welcoming old friends and new faces to the Lake District and I thank them all for their commitment to raising the huge sum of money that will enable us to continue with our work with disadvantaged young people throughout the UK and Ireland."