AN ADVENTUROUS couple will risk life and limb to race across India in the monsoon season – in a motorised rickshaw with a top speed of 35mph.

Former Huddersfield University student Adrian Murray and his girlfriend Kate Antjoule are doing ‘The Rickshaw Run’.

The adventurous pair will take on 59 other competitors in a race beginning in Goa in the south of India and finishing over the north Indian border in Nepal.

Adrian, 26, a feature film editor, told the Examiner: “I’ve been working non-stop since I left university.

“I wanted to do something completely different and wanted to get away from the real world.

“An email popped into my inbox and that’s where the idea came from.”

Adrian, who lives in London, has been dating Kate, 26, for two-and-a-half years and he persuaded her to accompany him on the 1,700 mile trip.

Adrian, who lived in Paddock as a student, said: “It’s going to be a real relationship test.

“Indian roads are probably the worst roads in the world.

“And then there’s the fact that it’s monsoon season when we’ll be there.”

Adrian and Kate, a TV producer, have named their rickshaw Tuxedo Royale and will wear tuxedos when they set off on the journey in December.

They estimate it will take two weeks to cross the border and reach Nepal.

Adrian, originally from Liverpool, added: “We will be tackling hundreds of unpredictable terrains during India’s monsoon season.

“With no specific route planned we are likely to pass through huge mountains, dirt tracks, tropical jungle, steamy Indian plains on the infamous “safe” Indian roads.

“We will have no support on hand and fully expect to break down several times over.

“With no knowledge of engines or spare parts, or indeed the AA or RAC, we will be relying on the goodwill of those we meet to get us back on track.”

Through sponsorship from friends and family, Adrian, a former music technology student, and Kate will donate everything they raise to two charities.

Half the money will go to Frank Water who help provide families in India with clean drinking water.

The other half will go towards anti-trafficking charity Maiti Nepal.

The auto rickshaw they will drive is a feature on roads across south Asia, where it is instantly recognisable as the tuk-tuk of Bangkok.

It is a motorised version of the traditional rickshaw or velotaxi, a small three-wheeled cart operated by a single individual.

Auto rickshaws are particularly popular where there is traffic congestion.

Sponsor the couple at www.justgiving.com/tuxedoroyale