Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I will be taking part in what has been called “The Toughest Footrace on Earth” or the Marathon des Sables to those of you who are runners. This is a 250k race through the Sahara desert in temperatures between 40-50 ‘C, the equivalent of running 6 marathons in 6 days. To make matters worse, it is a self-sufficient race, which means that competitors have to carry everything they require (except water) for the whole week. 

The first thing you are thinking having just read that is why? A question I am already asking myself, especially as I trudge around the roads of Jersey. I have always liked a challenge to motivate myself and from the first time I heard of the MdS, I wanted to take part. I never thought however, I would get a place or be stupid enough to actually put my name down to do it. Well now I am, and with 30 or so weeks left of training, have started to put the miles in, told a few people and bought a fancy backpack so no going back ....

One of the biggest problems of taking something like this on is balancing the training with the rest of your life : work, family with 2 very young children, social life and of course alcohol and food consumption. I have a very understanding wife (Lyndsey) who currently is being very supportive and my older daughter (3) already says “Daddy are you going running – It's raining." Over the coming months I am planning on taking part in lots of different races and events to try and prepare me for this ordeal. Wherever I go, my trainers will be coming with me!

Finally and most importantly, the real reason I am doing this. Lyndsey and I are lucky enough to have 2 healthy daughters who will hopefully share my love of sport. Sport has always played a massive part in my life and will continue to do so for so long as I can compete. Many other children and families are not so lucky however, and for one reason or another, these children don’t have the opportunity or capacity to take part in sports like we all can. As such, I have decided to run the MdS for the Caudwell Children’s charity. This is a fantastic charity which focuses on giving disabled children access to sport by both training and providing them with the specialist equipment they require. It also supports families day to day and provides terminally ill children with a trip of lifetime to Florida. I would ask therefore that people take 5 minutes to look at www.caudwellchildren.com and read about the great work they do. Importantly, every penny you donate is used for the work they do, as the running costs of the charity are met personally by John Caudwell.

I have set up this page to benefit Caudwell’s Children from me running the Marathon des Sables and the ridiculous events I will be taking part in before facing the desert. Any donation, however small, would be gratefully received and I look forward to keeping you all updated on my progress and hopefully successful completion of the Marathon des Sables.

Thanks

Stuart

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