Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

In a moment of madness and with a healthy degree of naivety, I have signed up to run the Marathon des Sables, 2013.

The distance:    A little misleading, the MdS is not just one marathon but – known as the 'Toughest Footrace on Earth’, it’s actually a 6-day, 243km ultramarathon through the Sahara Desert.

The weather:     Temperatures will range from 50 degrees Celsius during the day.. to freezing, at night

The daftness:    ..And because the plotters that created this, clearly thought that the combined distance and weather challenge would not prove sufficiently demanding, the final commandment is that  for the duration of the race, runners must carry all their possessions (including food, sleeping bag, clothes and kit).. which all in, weighs around 10kg.  

You may never know how truly frightening it is to type out that detail, as something you are about to commit to.

However – my motivation is aided enormously, by the cause and the friend that I am running for.

The charity C-R-Y is a charity that helps to increase awareness of cardiac risk, Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) and Sudden Death Syndrome.

I would never have known of it or of its work, had I not lost a close friend – a young man and with a young family, last year. But 12 people every week die in exactly the same way.

Cardiac Risk In the Young supports medical research into prevention as well as providing support, information & screening to those affected..

(Please note that I have paid for all costs associated with the event, and the full amount of your donation would go to the C-R-Y charity) 

Another important detail to note is as an added bonus, if you donate through Justgiving,

C-R-Y gets your money faster and, if you’re a taxpayer and the inland revenue aren't after you, an extra 25% is added to your donation (at no extra cost to you). 

So - you do the hard bit in finding the bottom of your pocket – I’ll do the hard bit by the sole of my foot! Trade?!

 Thank you for your support, Steph x