Steve toughs it out for fans

But that is what awaits Steve Whitaker on Sunday as he competes in the Tough Guy endurance race in Staffordshire.

Steve, of Howden Clough, is aiming to complete the endurance challenge in aid of a charity very close to his heart.

Steve, 42, helped found the organisation Leeds Fans Remembrance, which is hoping to raise 100,000 for the Candlelighters children's cancer charity, to mark the 10th anniversary of the deaths of Leeds United supporters Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight.

Chris and Kevin were murdered when they travelled to Istanbul to watch Leeds United's UEFA Cup semi-final against Turkish side Galatasaray on April 5, 2000.

To commemorate the anniversary of the tragedy, Leeds Fans Remembrance have organised a number of fundraising events between last August and April this year.

And Steve has already taken part in a Three Peaks walk and a Leeds to Skipton canal bike ride.

Steve said: "I have been going to Leeds matches for well over 20 years.

"I used to drink in Kevin Speight's pub in Farsley and, although I didn't personally know Chris Loftus, I am friends with his brothers.

"A group of us formed Leeds Fans Remembrance to mark the 10th anniversary and we have been staging various events.

"Tough Guy promotes itself as being the toughest endurance race in Europe. I did it three years ago and, although I am not one for going to the gym, I like to get stuck into things and I am a fit person."

Steve will be among 50 Leeds supporters taking part in Sunday's event. They are hoping to raise around 10,000 in total for the remembrance fund, all of which will go to the Candlelighters charity.

Each year, thousands of people descend on farmland in Perton, South Staffordshire, to take part in Tough Guy, which oranisers describe as 'the world's most dangerous taste of mental and physical pain, fear and endurance'.

Competitors have to negotiate 26 obstacles along the way, including climbing over and through huge pipes, crawling face down in thick mud, wading through freezing cold water and running across burning ditches.

Perhaps the most frightening test comes when competitors have to clamber up and run down two 40ft A-frames – with a series of electric fences to negotiate in between.

Anyone who wants to sponsor Steve can visit