MORE than 100 soldiers took the strain to pull a field gun around their barracks in a fundraising marathon gun run.

Weighing 1.8 tonnes, the Second World War gun was pulled around a course at Catterick Garrison's Vimy Barracks in aid of the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity on Friday.

Teams of soldiers completed the gruelling course in the bitter wind, pulling the gun over 26 miles of land, raising thousands of pounds.

Organised at the Infantry Training Centre, teams of ten competed against each other to complete the circuit in the fastest time.

Peter Hall, treasurer at the Richmondshire branch of the charity, cheered the teams on as they took up the challenge. Mr Hall said: "The gun was being pulled around the course faster as the day went on, probably due to the nasty wind that picked up after lunch. The record time was 14.5 minutes.

"The event was very well supported and we hope to have raised more than £3,000 for the dedicated nurses in North Yorkshire."