Amazon test for hill running teacher Steve

ADVENTURER . . . Steve Hill and Hannah Bailey (front) with classmates

FROM climbing Mont Blanc to running a marathon at the North Pole, daredevil teacher Steve Hill is used to pushing himself to the limit.

But the deputy head at St Joseph's RC Primary School is preparing for what he reckons will be his toughest challenge yet.

He flies out to Peru at the start of June to take on the gruelling 250km Jungle Ultra Marathon, which equates to six marathons in six days in soaring temperatures and 100 per cent humidity.

Mr Hill will carry all his food and essential supplies ­- which include a flare to summon help and an anti-venom pump - and will sleep in a hammock at night. The local wildlife includes jaguars, black caimen and lots of creepy crawlies.

Inspired

But he will be inspired every step of the way by his Year 6 pupils, with his challenge helping to raise money for the charities they have chosen to support throughout the year.

"It will be a big challenge, physically, and mentally demanding, but I'll take it a step at a time. I'll take messages from the class and open them every day," said Mr Hill, a double Pride in Oldham winner who told The Queen that he was "bonkers" when he received the MBE in 2015.

The former North West Primary School Teacher of the Year did his first charity challenge in 2009 when he climbed Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. Since then he has chalked up another seven which have also included a 150-mile trek across the Sahara Desert, driving a husky team on a 300-mile Arctic expedition, a 12-day jungle trek in Borneo and the Mount Everest Marathon.

He pays for the costs of his challenges himself and has helped his Year 6 class to raise more than £70,000 for numerous charities over the years.

"I wanted to keep up the momentum of our fundraising and have decided to do possibly my toughest challenge yet," said Mr Hill, who has been tackling a number of local races - albeit shorter distances - as part of his training.

"I will be flying out from Manchester Airport and then onto Cuzco in Peru. After a team briefing, we will transfer to base camp deep in the Amazon Jungle and from that point I will have to be totally self-sufficient, carrying all my food and other essential equipment in my backpack.

"Friends, family, colleagues and parents from school have again been fantastic, all offering to sponsor me whilst my brilliant and enthusiastic Year 6 class, along with the other children, are currently organizing a variety of exciting fundraising events."

Mr Hill and his class are raising money for Dr Kershaw's Hospice in Royton, Ward 84 at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Parkinson's UK, Polycystic Kidney Disease Charity, Chernobyl Children's Life Line and the school's Parent Teacher Association.

People can sponsor Mr Hill at www.justgiving.com/Steve-Hill-232