TWO East Cornwall Scout leaders have set themselves a challenge of a lifetime, to complete five marathons in five days — with neither of them having ever completed a single marathon before. Leader of the Stoke Climsland Cub section Clare Bain and leader of the Tamar Valley Beaver section Claire Wherry will be taking part in the Forces March 2014 — a 139-mile 'super challenge' to raise money for The Veterans Charity. The Forces March is one of the UK's toughest challenge events, which was created to unite civilians with personnel from the military and emergency services to raise vital funds for the care and support of UK armed forces heroes and forces families. Clare Bain, who works for children's charity CHICKS, said neither she nor Claire Wherry, who works for West Devon Borough Council, had ever completed a marathon before but were jumping straight in to walk the equivalent of five marathons in five consecutive days, following the route taken by men of the newly formed 6th Airborne Division on a now legendary training march from Devon to Wiltshire in 1942. Clare said: 'We decided we wanted a challenge and when I set myself to something I get very passionate about it. My husband is ex-forces — thankfully he didn't struggle when he came out but I know a lot of people do, so raising money for them is like our way of giving something back.' The challenge starts on May 21 from Ilfracombe, and the duo will cover an average of 27.8 miles a day, walking through Exford, Crowcombe, Langport and Maiden Bradley and finishing in Bulford, Wiltshire on Sunday, May 25. Clare said the decision to take part was made about a year ago and the duo have been training steadily since. 'We started training slowly and then in January we thought it was time to get serious so we trained all through the terrible weather — all the torrential rain, gale force wind and hail. The trick is to try to get our food intake right and we have been looking after our feet well. 'My husband will be driving the support vehicle alongside us, stocked up on food and water and will help us put up our tent at the end of each day.' Clare and Claire completed their longest training walk to date at the weekend, covering a distance equivalent to two marathons. Claire Wherry said: 'We are both working mums and fitting the training in has been difficult at times and if it wasn't for the support of our families, we would have struggled.' The ladies hope to raise £1,200 from their challenge for the Veterans Charity and are already well on their way, having already collected around £650. Anyone who would like to support the duo can do so at http://www.justgiving.com">www.justgiving.com /teams/chocolatefrogs or text CBFM72 or CWFM98 and an amount of your choice to 70070.