TWO businessmen have returned home after a perilous 100km trek across the freezing icy wastelands of the North Pole.

John Whalley, 41, of Station Road in Epping, and John Peck, 64, of Theydon Bois, are recovering at home after two weeks of Arctic adventures which saw them dodge polar bears, ward off frostbite and race against time to complete their journey before they missed their flight home.

But not everything went according to plan for the duo, who became friends after a chance meeting at Epping's Concept Fitness gym.

Mr Whalley, who owns a marketing company, said: “Before we even set off I started to get blisters from our training, and they just grew and grew.

“The second day of the trip we set off all happy but very quickly I realised my foot was in trouble. I started to ski with a limp but that only made my back and other leg hurt.

“We travelled for about seven hours and all I could think about was the pain, which only made it worse and worse. In the end I was so exhausted we had to stop.

“The next day I realised the only way I was going to see it through would be to just put my head down and get on with it.”

Mr Peck said: “John was in absolute agony. By the end of it his heel was almost falling off. But he showed the most enormous courage - he wasn't going to let the pain stop him.”

Mr Peck and Mr Whalley, whose participation helped raise a whopping £21,000 in sponsorship for charity Kids Cancer Research, celebrated their arrival at the pole by calling home on satellite phones before racing off to catch their plane home.

“It was an incredible experience,” said Mr Peck. “There was 24 sunlight the whole time and the weather was quiet good. The views were incredibly beautiful.”

“One of the most amazing things was seeing the halo effect where you see the sun and two half suns next to it, almost like a circular rainbow. I'd read about the phenomenon beforehand and I was very pleased to see it with my own eyes,” added Mr Whalley.

But it's all in a month's work for Mr Peck, who works for a company which organises such adventures. He heads off to a marathon in Namibia on Monday.