A Falmouth man will take on a gruelling half marathon in October to raise money and awareness of the hard work of the RNLI.

Joe Ryan, from Woodlane, will be running the Eden Project Half Marathon, which he described as "about ten miles uphill and one mile of downhill at the end," to raise money for the RNLI.

He said: "I'm trying to raise money for the RNLI because I live in Falmouth and they are a really important charity in the area, and even though most people regard them as a public service organisation like the police or fire brigade, they don't get any central government funding.

"I though I would try and raise a bit money for the volunteers to keep the organisation going."

Joe used to take boats out on the Hamble, near Southampton, and said when you are out on the water you see how much people rely on the RNLI, and added the service was "like an insurance policy" you never plan to use, "but as soon as something bad happens you contact them immediately and are desperately grateful for them being there."

Joe was looking for something to do to raise money for the charity when his partner Trina Borrow, a keen runner, suggested the Eden half which she is also running.

He said: "I've done a couple of half marathons, I've done the Bath half, which is is wonderfully flat."

Joe also laughed at any suggestion he would beat Trina, and said:

"I imagine she'll try to run alongside for ten minutes, and then she'll be gone.

"My greatest ambition at the finish line is to be able to stand up long enough to pick up my medal without collapsing on the ground.

"But it's beautiful scenery around there, so if you're half collapsing up hill around the ten mile mark, at least you've got a good view."

Joe suffered a setback to his training when he fell down recently and broke his elbow, but he is on the mend and back on track, although he said with the gradients involved he is not sure whether he should be running, "or climbing ladders."

If you would like to support Joe, visit www.justgiving.com/DrJoeRyan