WHAT?  The Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc. ----- The longest single stage mountain race in the world. ----- Apparently "Europe's Hardest Race". ----- (Why, Henry, why?)

 

THE DETAILS.  104 miles (4 marathons in one go, no rest, clock doesn't stop). ----- 10kms of climb. ----- 46hr time limit, inc. 2 consecutive nights of running. ----- MDS style races required for qualification. ----- Success rate ~ 50%. ----- like "running from London to Birmingham with Everest in between". ----- Training has included a marathon every 10 days for 6 weeks and a 63 mile night hill run last Friday.

 

WHY?  To help the Tuareg achieve food and water sustainability

• Who are they?  http://www.tuaregcaravans.com/gallery.php - a photographic album sharing a little of the Tuareg and their life - proud but dignified, hard but beautiful
• Where?  In Mali, near Timbuktu, some of the friendliest, kindest and most welcoming people I've ever met.  Also sadly a people fighting for survival
• Why?  I've met many of them, travelled in their lands and been touched by what they have and how close they are to losing it - they have lived on a knife edge in the inhospitable Sahara for centuries, but the encroaching desert, global warming and disinterested governments are pushing this balance to the limit.  My photos of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali contain many of the Tuareg and other local tribes - http://www.flickr.com/photos/henryogrady/sets/72157615141519222/show/
• What?  A sustainable food and water security programme (garden) which will provide food security to 5 Tuareg communities outside Timbuktu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvrKsdzSF1k&feature=channel_page - similar to this one, which is on the edge of Timbuktu).  What I'm raising is going to something specific, whose progress can  be tracked - £6,000 is required per "sustainable garden", each providing food and water security for around 1,000 people.  Donate a huge sum and they may even name it after you!!
• Through whom?  Tuareg Relief, http://www.jump4timbuktu.org/?content=readtimbuktu are a UK based charity, who will be supporting l'Association Malienne pour la Survie au Sahel, the project managers.  The project is also endorsed by the British Ambassador to Senegal and Mali.
• Tuareg Refief's trading arm, Jump4Timbuktu - http://www.jump4timbuktu.org/ is helping the Tuareg to "trade their way out of poverty", through long-term trading relationships with the Tuareg artisans around Timbuktu.  They do not pay salaries and all profits go to Tuareg Relief.