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Radcliffe couple on rickshaw

21/ 5/2008

AN adventurous couple from Radcliffe are taking on the elements as they travel through south-east Asia - on a rickshaw.

Ruth Watt, who lives in Plymouth Grove, Radcliffe, will be travelling from Kathmandu in Nepal to the south of India in nothing more than the motorised vehicle.

Ruth and her boyfriend Tim Greenhalgh, who lives in Marple, will be doing the annual Rickshaw Run, which sees 70 teams travel through the continent in the three-wheeled vehicles.

They are doing the run to raise money for two charities - The Mercy Corps and the Frank Water Project - which work in India to improve sanitation and to give humanitarian aid.

The couple will not have to rely on pedal power to get them around, as the rickshaw is motorised, but will still be at the mercy of the elements.

Ruth, who works for BUPA in Salford Quays, said: "Our team is called Monsoon Maniacs, and we will be going in monsoon season, which makes it doubly hard."

She said: "I’d never driven a rickshaw before so I’m really excited by it.

"I think it’s going to be hard work, but I really can’t wait.

"We had to go to Southampton for a rickshaw training day, which was really good fun, but we haven’t exactly had a lot of training for it."

But although the adventurous couple have not done much training on the rickshaw, they have taken extra precautions with their sleeping arrangements.

Ruth said: "Obviously, we can’t book hotels or hostels or anything because we don’t know where we are going to be at any given time.

"We could be in the middle of nowhere when it falls dark, so we bought some hammocks so that we could sleep in between the trees.

"I thought we should probably try them out before we go, so we took them down to the forest near Macclesfield at the weekend and slept there - it was amazing."

Ruth, 39, is looking for sponsorship for the run, which starts on June 1.

She said: "In order to do the run you have to raise at least £1,000. We are about halfway there, and we do have friends and family who will give us some money.

"But we are obviously looking for as much as possible, so any help will be much appreciated."

For more information or to sponsor Ruth and Tim, visit: http://rickshawruno8s.theadventurists.com/monsoonmaniacs