MDS 2009 - SOS Children's Villages
Chuck Cosman is raising money for SOS Children's Villages UK
Participants: William Davies, Anton Vencelj
Story
Hi Everyone,
Some of you know already, and some of you know now... I've decided to put myself through a s**tload of pain next week and race in an ultramarathon called the Marathon Des Sables. To put things simply that basically means i'll be running the equivalent of a marathon a day for 7 straight days through the 40oC heat of the Morrocon Sahara. I'll sleep in a two sided tent with 10 other people, have rationed water and just to make things a little bit more difficult will have to carry all of my own gear, clothing, food, sleeping bag, stove and everything else on my back while I do it.
So why am I doing this...? Honestly I kind of enjoy it. It's like socially acceptable form of S&M (did I just write that??). And I was also fortunate to get sponsorship through Eurosport and Orca my previous and current employers. If you can believe it the majority of the 875 people in the race actually pay 3,200 EUR just to haul themselves through the desert, sleep on ripped up carboard boxes, eat nothing that isnt freeze dried, and smell like a nasty sweaty shoe after multiple days of trying to replace a real shower with a single nappy wipe.
Now that i've painted a good picture.... I want to tell you about the good side of the race.
Despite being highly competitive at the front of the pack, the majority of participants will be focusing on simply finishing. Each person will have a different story and a different reason for taking part. There will be those who want to push themselves to the absolute limit just to see what happens, those who want to prove the doubters wrong, and those who are racing for dreams of someone else. I probably fall into the substantially less sentimental competitive group of racers, but we'll see how my legs are feeling by day 5 before I fully commit to that side of the fence. In any case though, ALL participants will be bound by one single mission which is to use the race as a means of raising money for charity to support growth and development on the African continent.
Yes, yes here it comes... charity time. Dont worry though, I'm gonna make it really easy for you. There is a charity called SOS Children (described on the left side of this page) that focuses its efforts on providing homes for orphaned and abandoned children. They are currently finalizing plans to build a childrens village in Chipata, Zambia where AIDS prevalency is over 26 percent and 10 percent of children are orphans. The village will have homes, a school, and a medical centre and will be completely operated by the local people under the guidance of SOS Children. As you can imagine the quality of this children's village will be completely dependant on available funds and therefore i'd really like to take advantage of this race to try and raise as much as possible, and ensure that these unfortunate children will have their own chance at life.
Its really easy to donate. You're already on my donation page, so all you have to do is click on "sponsor us now!" and follow the really easy steps.
If you feel like making me work for your dollar (pound, in this case) then don't hesitate to send through some incentives like "top 20" or "don't get bit by a scorpion" and i'll do my best to meet the demands.
Now that I've had my say, I Invite you to follow the race on www.darbaroud.com from March 29 to April 4 and see how I'm getting along. Everyone races as an individual (I'm competitor #12), and i'm also a member of Team Eurosport where the team score is the cumulative time of the three team members. My friend William Davies will be joining me on this team along with a Slovenian named Anton. There will also be the option of sending me personal messages throughout the race so PLEASE do this as i'm sure i'll find it very uplifting to hear from all of you during my time in the desert. Please make the jokes as crude as possible! Unfortunately I wont have the option of writing mass emails, but i'll make sure to let you all know about my experience afterwards.
Hope everyone is doing really well (updates please!), and look forward to catching up really soon!
Hugs and Kisses,
Chuck