Some say its an excuse to get away from work..

Some say it's just a self catering beach holiday...

All I know, it's The Marathon des Sables...

The Marathon des Sables is billed as the "toughest foot race on the world." The 2010 event is the 25th edition of the race and to commemorate this the organisers have decided to make it 250km long, which is the longest version ever. Just my luck!

It is run in April in the Moroccan Sahara desert over 1 week. It's self sufficient so I need to carry everything needed for the full week, except a tent. Water will dispensed at various check points throughout the race but I need to carry all my food, sleeping bag/mat and safety gear, including an anti-venom pump! Temperatures vary between 5C at night to 50C during the day.

The race is broken down into roughly the following stages

Day 1 20 miles

Day 2 22 miles

Day 3 25 miles

Day 4 50 miles

Day 5 Rest/recover

Day 6 Marathon day

Day 7 13 miles

So it's not just a stroll in the park!

Training currently involves running up and down hills in the rain and dark with 4 layers of clothes on! I am doing 35-40 mile per week at the moment but this total will rise to 60-70 miles per week towards the end of February 2010.

Desert training in Angus in December is not that easy to be honest! 

I am running for my local community association, ENKA who are raising money to build a new community hub. Our old hall is unfortunately past its best and we need to replace it. We need to raise just over £500K and to the credit of the fundraising team, they have secured around £400K so far. I would like to help them go the extra mile to meet the required target by running/walking/crawling in the sands of the Sahara. It's the least I could do. 

I am not asking for you to donate the full £100K just what you can afford and hopefully enough people will give enough to make a dent in this total. 

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