TOP athletes from all over the world will be descending on Minehead next month to meet the challenges thrown down by an international Xterra event.

The town has been chosen to stage the European leg of the Xterra Great Britain Championship which features extreme swimming, mountain biking and trail running events.

With words such as "gruelling" and "pure grit" littering the promotional material for this triathlon-with-teeth, the competitors will be in for a truly tough time.

At least 250 athletes have already signed up to take part in the championship in the hope of being among the top 22 finishers who automatically qualify for a place in the world final in Maui, Hawaii.

American TV crews will be covering the Minehead contest, with satellite channel Eurosport planning to televise the 1.5 km roughwater ocean swim, the 30 km off-road mountain bike ride and the 11 km trail run.

Championship director Shaun Latham said: "It's basically an extreme triathlon. You have to be super fit to take part but anyone who thinks they're up to it can join in by registering on our website."

The Xterra team will be setting up a mini-version of an Olympic village at Butlins for the competitors and is planning a host of events such as an energy boosting pasta party to coincide with the contest.

While the main race takes place on Saturday, September 2, there will be plenty of other sporting events to test the fitness of local amateur athletes.

On Friday, September 1, there will be a mountain bike time trial - called the Fat Tyre Criterion - along the promenade with the top 10 best times competing in a further "ten tactically gruelling laps".

Swimmers can take the plunge in a 1,500 metre roughwater swim based on the real Xterra course on Sunday morning, September 3, while runners can step it out in a fun trail run from Dunster Lawns and raise money for charity at the same time.

Mr Latham added: "The real attraction of bringing this event to Minehead was Exmoor. Where better to set such gruelling challenges?"

The Friday mountain bike time trial starts at 5pm, while the ocean mile on the Sunday begins at 9am, followed by the fun trail run at 11am.

The Great Britain Championship starts at 10am on the Saturday with the roughwater swim from the beach at Butlins, then on to the cycle race and trail run finishing up at Dunster Lawns.

Anyone considering entering the main championship event must be in peak condition and register via the website at http://www.xterra.co.uk">www.xterra.co.uk before August 20.