A HALE resident will participate in the London Marathon with a karaoke kit strapped to his back to raise money for cystic fibrosis research.

Philip Huggon will tackle the race as part of his efforts to raise a seven figure sum for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

The father-of-three, 40, of Heath Road, will assume the pseudonym of Karaoke Phil' at the marathon on April 22 and will be singing songs as requested by members of the public.

Philip is determined that he will run the marathon in under five hours despite only having trained up until now for a total of six weeks.

Philip, who is married to Jackie, said: "I aim to raise up to £1 million for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, £200,000 of which is hoped will come from the London Marathon. We are doing this so that by 2009 cystic fibrosis sufferers will be able to trial a new drug which may help to prolong their lives."

This cause is close to Philip's heart because he has a friend who lost a child to the disease.

One of the first songs that Philip will perform is to be a duet with a cystic fibrosis sufferer who will also be participating in the marathon.

Philip also hopes that he will get the opportunity to sing with a celebrity and will be urging as many people as possible to join in with him en route.

People will be able to request songs by visiting www.karaokephil.com to see the list of songs on his karaoke machine. It is then up to people to text 80880 with their preferred choice of song. If the song is in Karaoke Phil's top 40 two days before the race he will sing it. The text costs £1 and the proceeds go towards the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Philip has also urged local businesses to get involved by each sponsoring him £1,000 in return for advertising them on his website or on the day. He can be contacted on Philip will also participate in the Great Manchester Run with work colleagues on May 20.