A STRONGMAN is hoping to raise money for sick children as he prepares to take on his toughest challenge yet - a train weighing more than 60 tonnes.

Matt Downey, 42, is set to try to break his personal record and will compete against more than 30 strongman athletes next month.

The life-long Halstead resident will be taking part in the upcoming BEKS and East Kent Railway Train Pull.

The charity competition, to be held on August 1, will pit some of the country’s strongest athletes against each other.

Matt, along with friend Leon Pegler, from Braintree, will head down to the event in Dover while flying the flag of Rebel Strength, a Dunmow-based company which sells and makes commercial gym equipment.

The event is in aid of both the East Kent Railway and the Bring Every Kind Smile (BEKS) charity.

BEKS fundraises for terminally ill children, as well as the elderly, to help grant their wishes.

Matt, who works in Earls Colne, hopes to raise £250 and has so far raised £75.

Having been a strongman for two years, Matt has already had some career highlights, including his biggest achievement yet - pulling a massive articulated lorry.

But now Matt, who trains at the Lemans gym in Halstead, will take on his biggest challenge yet at the event and will attempt to pull a gargantuan 62 tonne train with the locomotive and carriages.

Matt said: “I have been in strongman for just over two years after Leon approached me in the gym one day asking me if I had ever thought about taking part. Since then I’ve never looked back.

“Myself and Leon will be heading down to this event in Dover flying the flag for Rebel Strength.

“There will be 30 plus strongman athletes heading down to take part.

“There will be some special guest there also but I’m not allowed to drop names as they are yet to be released to the public but if you follow strongman events you will know them when you see them.

“We have to pull a 62 tonne train for 20 metres in the best time possible or for whatever distance you can manage.

“This will be to raise as much money as possible for two charities that have be hit hard during the pandemic.

“They help children with cancer and other terminal illness live the best lives possible.”

Matt’s transformation into a strongman contender comes after a recent health scare.

He was forced to completely change his lifestyle following a cancer scare...and it led to him becoming a strongman.

He added: “I’ve lived in Halstead all my life and I’m just an ordinary bloke really.

“I had a recent cancer scare myself but have now been diagnosed with Barrett’s esophagus which I control by changing my lifestyle and diet and medication,

“When I’m not working, I spend a minimum of two and a half hours in the gym every night.

“It’s a solo event. I have never pulled a train before, just a lorry. I will be attached to the train via a harness.

“Then you get low into a bear craw and drive with your legs as hard as possible

“Getting it moving is the hardest part but then you have to keep it moving and keep the momentum going.”

Matt is already collection donations, for the event and you can visit bit.ly/MattDowneyStrongmanTrainPull to donate.