SHELLY Woods sweeps around the oval track at Manchester's Indoor Athletics Arena without so much as breaking a sweat.

As one of the country's top paralympians, it's little wonder that she makes moving a racing wheelchair seem so easy. Having tried it for myself, however, I can vouch for the fact that it isn't.

Shelly, 21, who hails from Blackpool, will be one of the must-see elite athletes competing at the Paralympics World Cup in Manchester between May 7 and 11, and has already won the London Marathon.

Training six times a week, working out in the gym, and eating the right food, has put her in a position to be one of our hottest medal prospects at the Beijing Olympics.

Your intrepid L-Plate Athlete, on the other hand, pretty much drives a desk for a living, and usually lifts nothing heavier than a computer mouse.

Shelly starts by explaining the basics of moving a racing wheelchair, which isn't as easy as it looks.

The chairs are built from strong but lightweight materials and come with a central steering arm which moves the front wheel from side to side.

However, most athletes prefer to keep their hands firmly on the hand rails, keeping up the momentum, and so there's also a special piece of equipment which keeps the wheel turned in one direction or another.

Effort

I found that simply steering the chair is a real effort. And then it comes to propulsion.

Elite athletes lean forward into the chair, lowering the centre of gravity, and giving them the perfect position to exact optimum motive power onto the rear wheels, hitting average speeds of around 20mph.

I get the thing moving and then manage to trundle along at a speed which is best described as slow.

Having had around 45 seconds of intensive training, I attempt to follow Shelly's lead with a lap of the track.

It doesn't start well, with me struggling even to get the chair up the first banked curve of the oval track.

I'm effectively pushing up hill, and my arms quickly make me aware of my limitations.

It gets easier halfway through the curve, when the track turns downhill, and I capitalise on the momentum to "sprint" down the straight.

Then I hit the next banked turn, which shaves away all of my momentum, and leaves me struggling to complete the corner all over again.

Having inched slowly around, I make it to the home straight and roll to a breathless halt.

Shelly Woods might make it look easy, but elite athletes like her are a real force to be reckoned with.

Simon is in training for the Bupa Great Manchester Run - one of the numerous world championship events that form part of Manchester World Sport 08, including the Paralympics World Cup.