WEST Wiltshire competitors in this year's Bath Half Marathon are putting the finishing touches to their training ahead of Sunday's 13-mile slog around the city's streets.

Graham Dove, 46, from Bradford on Avon, will line up at 11am with more than 5,000 entrants at the start on Great Pulteney Street.

He has not run since his schooldays and will be raising money for Wiltshire charity The Neem Tree Trust, sending funds to a home for disabled boys in southern India.

The 72 boys at the home have been checking on Graham's progress through his training via the charity's website and stitched him a good luck banner for Sunday.

Mr Dove said: "I thought I would run in aid of a lesser known charity.

"I have supported the Neem Tree Trust since I saw an amazing video about the boys' home.

"Despite their severe disabilities the boys still have fund and extra funds will help them to go on enjoying life."

Talan Skeels-Piggins, 33, a sports teacher from St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon, is hoping to complete the race just a year after a motorbike crash left him paralysed from the chest down.

Mr Skeels-Piggins set himself the challenge of competing in a specially adapted race wheelchair to raise money for the Talan T4 Trust.

He endured months of rehabilitation at the Spinal Unit in Salisbury Hospital after the accident on March 8 last year and plans to donate funds raised to the unit.

He has been training hard for the event on the track at Bath University. He said the half marathon would be a good way to say thank to all his supporters over the past year.

He said: "Life for me just keeps getting better it's a journey of challenges and I'm loving it.

"When it comes to the race at least with hills I only have to push on the way up.

"The only worry I have about downhill on the race day is that there will be lots of runners in the way so I will have to brake and slow down."

West Wiltshire's DC Leisure Management has two teams entered. One team is made up of gym staff led by personnel manager Sue Cook. She has personal trainer Gary Mclaughlin in her team, who recently managed to complete the New York Marathon in 3 hours 14 minutes, in the top 14 per cent of finishers.

Castle Place fitness instructor Rebekah Scott will lead the second team and has enlisted Kinetika gym users to keep her company up and down Bath's streets.

Team members are hoping to raise money for a range of causes including the Guide Dogs Association, Cancer Research, Breast Cancer, Bristol Cancer Unit, CLIC and Leukaemia Research.