Thanks for visiting my fundraising page;
RACING FOR A CURE FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE -
THE MARATHON DES SABLES 2009
What on earth makes me want to do this? "The toughest foot race on earth!"
http://www.saharamarathon.co.uk/
I've played rugby all my life, sailed across the Atlantic in a plastic tub, bungeed over Victoria Falls, served in the Russian Merchant Navy and been lucky enough to race cars at the Castle Combe Circuit for the last ten years, but running across the Sahara desert for 150 miles in the blazing sun for six days tops the madness league so I am told. If I could raise money every time I am told that "I should be certified" there would be no need to do the run!
So why six marathons back to back in the sand at temperatures up to 50 degrees?
A fews years back I ran in the London Marathon with a group of pals who were supporting a close school chum called Tom Isaacs, who had just completed a year long 4,500 mile walk around Britain. Tom finished the walk by also completing the London Marathon the very next day. No mean feat, when you have feet that go in the same direction that is, but Tom's challenge was that his didn't always do as he expected. In fact, since the tender age of 27, he has been waking up every morning wondering which part of his body may function at all. His battle ever since his diagnosis with Parkinson's disease has not been to live with it though, more it has been to find a damn good reason to poke a stick in the eye of acceptance and to do everything possible to find a cure for this debilitating disease.
Tom has along with other sufferers and colleagues set up The Cure Parkinson's Disease Trust. This is no ordinary charity. This is one that I am convinced will be a first of its kind, because one day it will put itself out of business having found a cure - that is their mission and I am sure they will do it.
So, when an old rugby pal of mine David Choules, better known as Little Blonde Davey (LBD) called me up one miserable wednesday evening as I was trudging through the back streets of Holborn and said "I've got a challenge for you", I imagined it would be a case of putting on our boots again together one last time to have a short run out on our favourite old back pitch at Chiltern RFC in Bucks. But no, Choulsey had other ideas and so it is that with less than four weeks to go I now find myself working in Qatar in the Middle East cursing that I ever took his call!
Bu a challenge is a challenge, and no bigger challenge is Tom's - to cure Parkinson's Disease. So how can I back out now - no way. A few sand dunes wont hurt.
If you can find a way to support this worthwhile cause with me I would be very grateful, and I would of course like to come back and say thanks personally, but I will leave it to the Sun Gods to determine whether I am spared!
Very many thanks - I'll be thinking of you all (and kicking Choulesey all the way!)
Pen, Molly and Archie, thanks, you are the best, every mile will be for you.
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