16th January 2008

As thirty approaches a nagging sense of desperation has hit us, that we want to do something truly worthwhile for charity, while also providing us with a bit of a challenge! The problem is that we have been bragging and dining out on doing the Marathon des Sables, reputedley the toughest foot race in the World, for years in our favourite watering holes.  So it seems only natural that we kill two birds with one stone, accept the challenge and go do some sand running.

The race itself is held in Morocco at the end of March/beginning of April and is approximately 150 miles, carrying all that we need on our backs (except the tent.)  It is run in the desert where the temperatures regularly reach around 120 degrees Fahrenheit and is run over six days.

After a fair amount of thought we have both decided to run for Great Ormond Street Hospital.  This place has previously done the both of us, along with many others, a huge service.  They helped Oli through a very difficult patch when he was born a bit early - about the only time he has been early in his life.  Much less dramatically, but still hugely important, they helped Alex with his dyslexia with learning strategies to overcome the problems he faced.  In short without their help in our lives, one of us may well have not been here and the other would not have been able to achieve the things he has.  We both owe them alot for helping us become the people we are today.

We appreciate that there are many worthy causes in the world and there are many requests to support them.  It is for that reason that we have decided to try and do something that is truly difficult.  We fully expect to be a mess by the end of it having given it everything and I truely believe that it will only be our friendship that will get us through.  For that reason we would like to say thank you for considering supporting us.

There are of course costs involved in the race but this is no holiday! We need to raise £5,000 to pay for flights, accomodation (tents), food, water and emergency medical support throughout the race, which we will hopefully not need! We will be paying for half of these costs ourselves.

Great Ormond Street have said a third of what is raised can contribute to costs, so please be aware that some funds will be used for this purpose. We will also be running a number of fundraising events, so look out for them. 

Please also remember if you are a UK tax payer to give gift aid, it costs you nothing but means GOSHCC can reclaim the tax.

Alex and Oli