TWO of Swindon’s strongest men have proved their superhuman strength can result in charitable rewards after they nearly raised £2,000 from a truck-pulling challenge.

Don Bryden, of Stratton, and Europe’s strongest man, Laurence Shahlaei, 33, of Sparcells, aimed to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation, Diabetes UK and BEST (Bryden’s Endangered Species Trust) when they dragged the two 16-tonne MAN trucks back in July.

And after adding up every penny of donations, the pair managed to raise £1,813.57 which they celebrated with staff at Tesco in Ocotal Way where they completed the challenge.

Don, 46, who only started truck pulling three years ago said: “When we did the truck pull, it was raining and the amazing thing is that people weren’t put off by that and they still came out to support us.

"The donations they gave were incredible the people of Swindon gave ten out of ten in helping us raise money for our charities.

"The weather certainly changed every plan we had going into the truck pull. We trained so hard to pull the trucks along with our lower leg strength but when the heavens opened, we had to change our whole tactic. We had to use our upper body strength instead and it was an absolute killer.

“By being able to go back to Tesco, we were able to say thank you for them letting us do it there but also show that the charities really need the funds and I wish we could have raised more.”

The pair pulled the trucks for 25m during the Man Vs Machine challenge and now have plans for extra challenges next year – the details of which are firmly under wraps but the super strong duo have said they could go down in record books.

Don, who is a seasoned charity fundraiser and is often seen out pulling his car as part of his training regime, said since the challenge, he has been recognised by members of the public with many thanking him for his charitable endeavours.

“When you do things like this, the work of the charities and their importance to people is always on your mind,” he said.

“The most amazing thing from doing this is that I have had so many people who are diabetic come up to me and say thank you for what we did because the work of the charity means a lot to them.

"By hearing things like that, it makes you feel great and it is humbling when people say thank you and it is little things like that which keep me going.”