From Norway to Prague - on a skateboard

Ben Hall, 22, from Shillingford, is setting off on the seven-week-long challenge through five countries at the end of this month, aiming to raise £3,000 for meningitis research.

He chose the charity because skateboarding pal John Sullivan, 40, was struck by the virus last year. Although he has recovered, he has been forced to give up skateboarding.

Last year Mr Hall, who is attempting the feat with two fellow skateboarders, failed to break the British record for skateboarding from John O’Groats to Land’s End, after breaking his wrist on a cattle grid.

But this year, he is determined to complete his new challenge – in laidback skater style.

He said: “We don’t get up early, because we try to avoid rush hour.

“On a bad day, we would do 20 miles, on a good day, 60 to 70 miles.”

He added: “Our organisational skills are fairly lacking, so we will be making a lot of it up as it goes along.”

The former Wallingford School pupil has adapted a second skateboard to tow behind him as a trailer, carrying all his kit for the two-month trip, while fellow skateboarders Zoltan Nagy, 32, from Bristol, and Rob Hanson, 22, from Bath, will be carrying backpacks.

Mr Hall said the biggest challenge would not be the hills or the equipment, but dealing with drivers. He said: “I have done big A-roads in this country, and they are pretty horrendous. If we can, we will take minor roads, and there are quite substantial cycle paths in many of the countries.”

Mr Hall said he regularly skated 15 miles from his university in Glamorgan, where he is studying history, to Cardiff, and had crossed much of England and Wales. In 2007, he founded the skatefurther.com website and forum to get more people to take up long-distance skating.

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