TWO years after the death of Sophie Drury, her family and friends will complete a gruelling mountain triathlon in her memory.

Sophie, who lived at Castle Eaton, near Swindon, lost her decade-long battle with ovarian cancer on April 5, 2008 at Wroughton’s Prospect Hospice. She was just 34 years old.

Now eight challengers, including Sophie’s husband Rob, and brother Tom Archard, both 39, will compete in the mountain triathlon at Ullswater in the Lake District shortly after dawn on May 20.

The team – Rob, Tom, Jill Dale, Matthew Henderson, Rob Watson, Sarah Watson, Helen Shaftoe, Max Thomas and Patrick Sant – will race against other teams in a paddling, hiking and cycling time trial.

Rob, who lives in Frankfurt, said: “It is ironic really because a group of us who ran the Rome Marathon for Sophie last year sat down and said we needed to do something a bit more inclusive. So how we came up with this I don’t know.

“The great thing about it is that it is about teamwork, it is a challenge we will be doing as a group which we couldn’t do with the marathon. It’s something Sophie would have loved to do and had she been given the opportunity, it would have been done with a big smile on her face.”

All sponsorship raised will go to Macmillan Cancer Support, The North West Cancer Research Fund and the hospice where she died with dignity – Prospect.

North West Cancer Research Fund is a Liverpool-based charity which funds research into the causes of cancer and how it spreads. NWCRF is currently funding a study into ovarian cancer at the University of Liverpool which is being conducted by Dr Daimark Bennett. The disease is often only noticed when it has spread to other organs. It is these pathways Dr Bennett’s team will be researching which could reveal a breakthrough in ways to treat the disease.

“Before Sophie died she nominated two charities she wanted to benefit from any fundraising after her death and in line with her wishes we will continue our long term support to support Macmillan and Prospect Hospice,” Rob said.

“However, news of North West Cancer Research Fund’s support of research into ovarian cancer seemed too fitting for us to ignore. I know Sophie would give her full blessing.”

Ovarian cancer is dubbed ‘the silent killer’ due to the difficulties in detecting it an early stage. Despite the recent research that has contributed to a better understanding of the disease there is still no accurate screening test for a definitive diagnosis, without it the number of women with ovarian cancer is expected to rise over the next five years to an estimated 172,000.

But despite the life sentence dealt to Sophie when she was just 26, she battled on for 10 years, continuing her love of running, shopping and most of all, a good party.

Her courage inspired her friends and family to launch Sophie’s Legacy shortly after her death and in 2009, they raised £107,000 in her memory. Rob said: “The countdown is now on and our teams are training rigorously, taking nutritional and training advice to ensure they are at their peak physical condition before battling the elements in May. Sophie gave her all so we can too.”

For more information on Sophie’s Legacy 2010 Mountain Triathlon Challenge, or to donate, visit www.sophieslegacy.org