Two disabled Londoners are making the world’s first attempt to push themselves across the Alps in their wheelchairs, travelling marathon distances in sweltering temperatures each day. On Thursday, Ben Spencer, 51, and Peter Smorthit, 33, were on the sixth day of a 422km road journey from Montreux, Switzerland, to Lake Como, Italy, covering an elevation gain of over 6,500m. Mr Spencer said: “It’s a daunting challenge as nobody’s actually pushed themselves over the alps in a wheelchair before, but we’re determined to finish.” He said the pair want to encourage more wheelchair users to become active and to “train hard, keep going, believe in yourself”. The duo is travelling up to the distance of an ultra-marathon a day and are currently in the Raron district in Switzerland. Mr Spencer said: “It’s going well, but unfortunately the temperatures out here are 17 degrees above normal, meaning we are pushing marathons in 33 degree heat, which is causing us some problems.” The pair usually take less than three and a half hours to complete a marathon, but on their second day, took over eight hours to travel the same distance due to set backs caused by high temperatures. The duo struggle to regulate their body heat because of their disabilities, so have to take breaks more frequently than planned and carry an extra 7.5 litres of water with them, adding 7.5kg to their chairs. Wheelchair Across the Alps, their challenge which will be a world first, aims to raise money and awareness for Ataxia UK, a charity funding research and support services for those affected by ataxia. Mr Spencer, from Buckhurst Hill, has progressive cerebellar ataxia, a condition which affects a part of the brain called the cerebellum and impacts his coordination, balance, sight and speech. He first started experiencing symptoms 15 years ago, but was only diagnosed three years ago. Mr Smorthit, who lives in Hackney, sustained a spinal cord injury in January 2011, aged 19, following a scaffolding collapse while working as an electrician on a building site, causing him to become paraplegic. The pair met two years ago through the London wheelchair triathlon club and have since completed several long-distance challenges together, including wheeling the distance of the Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern, and District lines on separate occasions. The duo are athletes and disability campaigners who also play in the Harlequins Wheelchair Rugby Team, the Jesters, together. They are attempting the challenge in their everyday wheelchairs which have not been adapted for sport and weigh up to 16kgs, to show other wheelchair users what can be done in a standard chair. The pair planned for the challenge to take up to 14 days, but because of the extreme heat, they expect it to take up to three weeks. The athletes have spent the last year preparing for the challenge, dedicating up to 40 hours a week to training, including hill work in Greenwich Park, weekly 10km sessions with the Keep it Moving run club in Battersea Park, and a practice expedition in March at the Apple Cross Park in Scotland where they completed a 620m climb. They used the road and cycle track in the Olympic velodrome and hall in the London Olympic village in Stratford to train. “Without the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic games, then those venues wouldn’t be accessible to us,” said Mr Spencer. The pair are accompanied by a support team of three people, two of which also have ataxia. They help with logistics, food, cleaning and the duo’s everyday needs related to their disabilities, such as assisting with catheters. Mr Spencer said: “Me and peter want to show other wheelchair users that you can do it, never give up, train hard, keep going, believe in yourself and if we can get wheelchair users more active and get people with ataxia active, then we feel like we’ve done our job.” The pair have raised £3,887 of their £10,500 target – to find out more about the challenge and donate, visit here. The athletes’ progress can be followed in real time with a live tracker link which will be updated every day of their challenge.