In a global first, two British thirtysomethings, Robert McArthur, from Chew Magna and Poldy van Lynden, completed their three month trek last week to the Arctic island of Svalbard, the world’s most northerly inhabited location, relying solely on their own strength.

They completed the Arch2Arctic challenge a massive two weeks ahead of schedule, with their epic trek taking them across seven European borders and 5,000 km of land and sea. The challenge included a 125 km run from Marble Arch in London to Dover, the equivalent of a marathon a day for three days; a 35 km channel swim from Dover to Calais, a close to 18.5 hour swim, which has been completed by just 2,000 people, (far less than the number who have reached the peak of Everest). They then took on a 3,500 km bike ride from Calais to Tromsø, spending 12,000 minutes in the saddle as they cycled through five countries. And finally, a 950 km row from Tromsø to Svalbard, rowing for 21 days and through three seas to their final destination.

The pair undertook the world first challenge to raise funds in support of The Scout Association charity. The money raised will support The Scouts in their ambition to provide access to Scouting for young people from all walks to life by helping them expand into a further 500 areas of deprivation and under-representation across the UK.

Congratulating the pair on their feat of endurance, Chief Scout, Bear Grylls, said: “I’m super proud of the outstanding achievement... using skills and human power alone, Rob and Poldy have run, swam, cycled and rowed from Marble Arch to Svalbard in the Arctic Circle. They have travelled an incredible 5,000km, that’s simply an outstanding achievement. What I love most about this challenge is the example they are setting for Scouts everywhere – that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything – so I want to wish them congratulations and a huge thanks for all the money they raised to support Scouting.”

Talking on why they undertook the challenge, Robert and Poldy said: “The Scout Movement helps young people develop the skills and personal attributes they need to tackle life head on and win. As we have gotten older, we have realised just how much of what we learnt at Scouts when we were younger has helped us in our lives and careers. On this trip alone, we have had to demonstrate grit, determination, teamwork, resilience and a real sense of humour. All things that helped us succeed in reaching our goal, and all things that we learnt from being Scouts.

“Knowing that – we want all young people to have access to the same opportunities and to similarly develop skills that will help them for life. That is the reason we embarked on this challenge. Not just to test ourselves personally, but also to raise £100,000 to support young people from some of the most deprived parts of the UK. We hope in doing so we will inspire the next generation.”

To find out about the expedition, visit: www.arch2arctic.com. Readers can also donate at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/arch2arctic The pair had already raised around £65,800 at the time of writing.