14/4/13- Message from John "FINISHED! Yeah! Got my medal and kissed by a Frenchman twice- Patrick the originator of the race! I think I have got the camp record and no blisters at all! PS - I stink - no washing in 8 days, one set of clothes- it is pretty bad!" Well done John, despite the smell we think you are amazing!

12/4/13 - final position of 752 out of 1100 - amazing stuff, well done John! Thank you for all your donations , it means so much

12/4/13 - Stage 5 - the final stage of the race complete! John has done it! 624th position today for the final stage. We've never seen him move so fast on the GPS tracker, Thomas thinks he had all his energy drinks today!

11/4/13- Day 3 Update- finally heard from John! "Yesterday was the "big day" - 2 marathons in one day. We started at 0830hrs - you have a couple of choices -do it all in one go - or sleep at one of the checkpoints during the night. I decided to go right the way through - got to the finish line at 0450hrs this morning. it is now 1335hrs and still not everyone is in. It was very tough - yesterday was the highest temp so far 54C in the shade - add on running and creating your own heat, the sun beating down on you and then the heat being reflected back up off the sand. On the night stage I was out in desert for 5 hours all by myself - I am glad I got my navigation right. Behind the last competitor is a camel - like the Top Gear Austin Allegro - have not seen it yet. I am position 763 out of the 1100 starters."

9/4/13- Day 3 complete but no word from JP! We can see that he has crossed the finish line in 7h59mins- looks like a tough one. Day 4 gets even tougher though as it's 2 marathons in one day (75.5km). This is getting really hardcore now- come on JP you can do it!

8/4/13- Day 2 - Monstrous day, 3 huge Jebels [mountain climbs] the last one 1000 feet straight up on sand and loose rock - the last bit on a rope. There is a guy on a blade doing it - unbelievable. Thomas and Lucy will be pleased- we are burning 5000+ calories a day - but only eating 2000 - my tummy will go down! Today's time 6hr50min - 703rd out of 1039 so hanging in there! Thank you for all your kind donations so far.

7/4/13- Day 1 and first marathon over with - 7hr14min and 786th out of 1039. Quite pleased with that given the opposition. Unbelievably difficult, sand dunes like trying to run in a swimming pool, alternating with countless rocky hills all through the heat of the day.

I am planning to run the Marathon des Sables from 7th to 12th April in memory of my brother-in-law Con McLaughlin who sadly died last year. All funds raised this year will go to Cancer Research and we encourage you to give generously to this very worthy cause that is close to our hearts.

Dubbed the "Toughest Foot Race on Earth" - The Marathon des Sables is basically 6 marathons in 6 days across the Sahara desert in temperatures between 45C and 50C during the day and dropping to 5C at night. It is an exercise in self-sufficiency and navigation where you carry all your food, clothing, sleeping bag, stove and possessions for the whole 6 days. It is also a race - entrants this year are from over 30 countries. Failure to get to check points in the allotted time will result in removal from the race.

 

If you don't believe how tough this will be, then watch James Cracknell on the link below attempting to complete this same event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Qak8e4vYA

 

Thank you for your kind donations and please keep coming back to this page where we'll keep you up-to-date with my progress throughout the race.

John

 

Some other useful links that you may be interested in:

Follow my GPS tracker where you can see my progress live time as a bread crumb trail across the desert:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0MUb5UQEjQf94ErYyU8oODGL2ZpIZs6pP

See the race positions at the end of each day:

http://runningsahara.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=d312612be3ac7b003e86f53f8&id=e8da59ee1a&e=bded725c94

The organisers main website for more general information:

http://www.marathondessables.co.uk/site/