A bureaucratic delay almost caused the 11th-hour collapse of an Arctic adventurer's marathon charity bid.

From snow shoes to protective face mask, Mark Clifford had everything in place for Saturday's gruelling North Pole Marathon - except his passport.

Fearing missing his crucial connecting flight to Norway, Mark made an emergency call to the Russian Consulate in London where the vital document was being processed for another trip.

With a 6.15am flight to catch, the 44-year-old faced an agonising wait while the consulate fast-tracked his visa application and couriered it to the family home in Micklethwaite.

To Mark's relief, the passport arrived with hours to spare and he was able to set off yesterday.

His wife Debbie said her husband had breathed a huge sigh of relief and made his flight from Liverpool to Spitsbergen in Norway, the first stage of his journey to the North Pole.

"The passport came up at 9.30pm so Mark could get off to Warrington where he was staying before Liverpool," she said.

"He could have been in an awful pickle if it hadn't have come through. We had visions of missed planes and Mark desperately trying to catch up with everyone."

Mark and Debbie's passports had been sent to the consulate for visas before their forthcoming holiday to Russia, arranged through a travel agent on behalf of Mark's workplace.

"We sent the passports off about a month ago, but they hadn't returned. We didn't know where the problem lay, but as you can imagine, it was a fine line," said Debbie. "We'll never know exactly what happened, but it's sorted now."

The dad-of-one has raised £38,000 for charity by entering the polar race dubbed "the world's coolest marathon".

Wearing protective gear he will join competitors from a dozen countries on Saturday, running 26.2 miles on Arctic Ocean ice in temperatures of about -20C.

After taking a twin-engine Russian transport plane from Spitsbergen to the Polar ice, accommodation will be in heated tents. A course will then be established avoiding breaks in the ice and large pressure ridges.

The North Pole Marathon is far from being Mark's first endurance event. He has already competed in the Sahara Desert's Marathon des Sables, the Kilimanjaro Marathon and the highest marathon in the world, the Everest Marathon.

Mark is hoping to raise a total of £50,000 for Hopes and Homes for Children, a charity caring for children in Eastern Europe and Africa orphaned or abandoned through war, poverty or HIV/Aids.

The sales executive director will raise half of the sponsorship total with the rest matched by his employer, Leeds wealth management company St James's Place.

The company's charitable St James's Place Foundation will benefit from half of what is raised.

To sponsor Mark make cheques payable to the St James's Place Foundation (quoting NPM) and send to Chancellor Court, The Calls, Leeds, LS2 7EH.