Update - I am finally running the Marathon des Sables In April 2023, having previously been postponed from April 2020, September 2020 and April 2021 due to coronavirus and April 2022 due to injury in a friend that I am running with. Training still going well so it will be 5th time lucky!

As some of you already know, I enjoy taking part in long distance events and don’t normally ask for sponsorship. However, this is going to be a particularly tough challenge, the most difficult that I have entered, so I thought that it would also be a good opportunity to raise some money for Tom's Trust.

The Marathon des Sables is a 250km running race that takes place over 7 days across the  Sahara desert starting on 23 April 2023. There is a lot of sand, endless dunes and temperatures get up to 50 C with the longest stage of 85 km. It is also self-sufficient, so I have to carry all my food, clothes and kit including sleeping bag. The only thing that you don't have to carry is a tent - they provide goat's-hair bivouacs for 8 to sleep under every night! It's a pretty inhospitable environment but I am sure it will be fun. 

If you are really keen to see me suffer, you can even track my slow shuffling progress online - my race number is 1225 and tent number 85. Please send me messages throughout the race - you can do this via the MdS webpage https://live.marathondessables.com/en/nous-contacter/ which I can see at the end of each day, although I won't be able to reply.

All of this still does not compare to the suffering faced by children with brain tumours. Tom's Trust is a local charity in Cambridge that provides valuable psychological support for these children and their families from diagnosis, through treatment and beyond. 

Thanks for your generosity and support

James