Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On 08/04/18 I will be competing in the Marathon des Sables, which is a gruelling seven day ultra marathon in the Sahara Desert.

It has been described as, "the toughest foot race on earth", Discovery Channel.

I will be covering 155 miles on foot carrying everything I need for the week (except water & tent).

Temperatures reach 45 to 50 degrees centigrade & with carrying all my food, sleeping bag, mat & stove my rucksack will weigh approximately 10 kilos.

Training in the snow & ice of the UK winter may not have been the most ideal preparation.

Keeping the sand out of my shoes & avoiding badly blistered feet will all be part of the challenge.

One of the stages (on the fourth day) is 50 to 55 miles long & I'm estimating that it may take me around twenty hours to complete.

I'm fund raising for a local charity, Nottingham Mencap who do marvellous work supporting people & their families living with learning disabilities.

As I'm totally funding all the race, travel & kit costs myself anything you can spare for this wonderful cause will be greatly appreciated.

I'm hoping to be able to update my blog daily from the desert, as we are allowed to send one email a day.

Also anyone can send a corny pirate joke / supportive / abusive email to me, which the organisers print out & give to us every evening.

I'm also informed that there is a competitor tracking facility. I'll post the link for this on my Just Giving page & blog, in case anyone's interested.

I'm race number ___.

Relevant links including my Just Giving page / account are below.

http://piratepetesadventures.blogspot.co.uk/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AplmI_G6xIQ

http://www.nottinghammencap.org.uk/

The links to follow / email me;

http://live.marathondessables.com/waatracking/en-US/mds/MDS2018

http://www.marathondessables.com/en/marathon-des-sables-maroc/write-to-a-racer

Thank you,

Pirate Pete.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.