Daniel and Anna Corden, who leave for Asia next week Picture: ROB CURRIE (00865002)

A COUPLE have set themselves a challenge of cycling through Asia in memory of a Royal Marine who died on a training exercise in 2008.

In March, Daniel Corden (36) and his wife Anna (29) plan to cycle from one end of Vietnam to the other.

Their trip is aid of Challenge4Ben, which was set up by Ben Poole’s family after the 28-year-old died while training to join the Special Boat Service.

The Challenge4Ben campaign aims to encourage people to undertake demanding personal challenges that require commitment, courage and stamina.

Mr and Mrs Corden’s challenge begins on 6 March, when they collect their bikes in Hanoi. They then travel to Hue to begin the 1,100 kilometre trip and expect to arrive in Saigon on 31 March.

They leave Jersey on 15 January and will travel through Thailand, Cambodia and Laos before Vietnam. Mr Corden said: ‘Anna used to sail with Ben Poole when she was a teenager. His father Nick sailed to Gibraltar last year as his personal challenge, and so Anna and I are going to ride the crazy roads of Vietnam for ours.

The money from their trip will go towards Brighter Futures and Help for Heroes.
‘Anna and I thought long and hard about this and decided to continue the Pooles’ desire to help our returning servicemen,’ said Mr Corden.

‘Brighter Futures was chosen by Anna, who has seen the work that the charity does for families in the community.’

A former JCG pupil, Mrs Corden now works in the family law division at Ogier, while Mr Corden was a BBC sports producer.