CORNISH pasties have come to the aid of South Wales Artic Ultra marathon property auctioneer Paul Fosh.

Paul can now train in sub zero temperatures before he travels to Canada to compete in the The Likeys 6633 Ultra 2015 Arctic Ultra in March next year thanks to the support of a Monmouth pasty shop.

Paul, aged 48, who lives in Monmouth, is owner of Paul Fosh Auctions in Newport. He was looking for a large industrial walk in freezer in which to acclimatise prior to the gruelling event, and has been offered the use of one in Pasty Heaven.

Paul, a married father to four, has set his sights on completing the gruelling 120/ 350 mile challenge to raise £15,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

"The owner of Pasty Heaven, Peter Williams, got in touch after reading about my need for a freezer and offered his industrial fridge as a place that I can do the training," said Paul.

"The freezer is easily big enough to accommodate me and the equipment that I will be taking on the Ultra Marathon and so will be absolutely ideal for my requirements. I was thinking that I may have had to travel miles to find a suitable freezer to replicate temperatures on the ultra marathon but here is one right in Monmouth and almost on my doorstep."

Peter Williams, owner of the shop in The Oldway Centre, said: "I read about Paul's request in the Beacon and got in touch with him right away. I have a freezer where I store my pasties after they come up from Crantock, in Cornwall. The walk-in freezer has a light and we can kit it out with a chair; it goes down to -21c which should do the trick.

"What's interesting is the very same freezer was previously used by my son Richard, a couple of years ago, when he was training to take part in the North Pole Marathon.

Richard, a chief helicopter examiner in Australia, would sit in there with all his gear on to ensure that it was up to the job."

Peter said that Paul is free to use the freezer as and when he likes and says there will be a piping hot Cornish pasty waiting for him afterwards.

Paul will be encountering temperatures of minus 30c and the possibility of snow blizzards, ice floes and Polar bears in The Likeys 6633 Ultra when he will have to fend for himself the entire time.

A keen runner and general outdoor sportsperson Paul has signed up for what the organisers, Likeys of Brecon, describe on their website as "quite possibly the toughest race of its kind on the planet."

Paul will be one of just 25 people taking part in the challenge which will see them cover at least 120 miles, but potentially up to 350 miles in the Yukon, northern Canada, almost entirely within the Arctic Circle pulling all the equipment they need behind them on a sled, or 'pulk'.

The event has been run on six occasions and in that time only eleven people have completed the 350 mile course.

Paul's main sponsors for the charity event are HSJ Accountants, Quality Solicitors Rubin Lewis O'Brien, Paul Fosh Auctions, Rightmove/Agent's Giving and Auction Finance.

com or call Paul on (01633) 254044.