On the 6th April 2014 I will be competing in the Marathon des Sables; a 250km race over six days in the Sahara Desert, otherwise known as "the toughest foot race on earth".

In 1994, Mauro Prosperi, one of 133 Marathon des Sables competitors strayed off course for 300km over nine days. Having started the race in Morocco, he lost his way in the Sahara during a sandstorm and he was subsequently discovered by Tuareg nomads in Algeria.

The Marathon des Sables is self supported and I will need to carry my food, clothing and sleeping equipment for the duration of the race. The temperature will reach 50 degrees celsius and my body will have to endure heat exhaustion, dehydration and a calorie deficit.

As a reminder of what the human body is capable of, Mauro Prosperi survived during those nine days by drinking his own urine and eating bats. By comparison, I am expecting my experience to be relatively more luxurious as I will be dining on freeze dried ration packs which will be rehydrated with water heated by the desert sun.

I am using this as an opportunity to raise money for Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide in memory of my brother-in-law, Tom Holloway.

Thank you for your support.

Tyron

"The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it.” 
― John Ruskin

 

(Photo: Taken from www.i-run.co.uk)