Along with five other friends, in April 2010 we have decided to take part in the Marathon des Sables.  It has been described as the toughest foot race on earth and consists of the equivalent of 6 marathons (150 miles) in 7 days across the Sahara Desert - worryingly, one of the stages will be a 50 mile effort. And if the heat (average 40 degrees centigrade) and the distance are not sufficient tests of our resolve, we will be carrying all of our kit (sleeping bag, food, venom pump (?)) other than water (which is strictly rationed to 9 litres a day) for the duration.  So, you can see it could be quite cheeky....!!  If you have the time, read Ben Fogle's account of the event:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/04/26/ft26.xml

Why, aside from certifiable insanity, are we doing this?  To raise money for an amazing charity called Take Heart India, which is focused on practical education projects in India. Take Heart's belief is in empowering people through education, allowing people to achieve a sustainable way of life through their own efforts as opposed to living off handouts. Because the charity doesn't employ a single person, 100% of the proceeds go to the education projects, which will be the case with our fund raising.

For more info please see their website:  http://www.takeheartindia.org/main.htm

I hope you agree that it is very worthy cause, so please give as generously as you can.

We promise to keep you updated on our progress both in the build up to and during the event - there are a number of training events we have planned which should provide ample photographic material, and then of course there's the race itself - those of a sensitive disposition should probably avoid visiting this page once we're underway, unless blisters and sores are your thing.

Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page - please now dig deep and donate by following the instructions below.

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