We are a team of 4 girthy men taking on the Sahara desert in aid of two very worthy causes:

**Brain Tumour Research**

**The Friends of the Royal Marsden Hospital**

Come April, we will be competing in the Marathon Des Sables 2025. This is a self-sufficient foot race, covering 250km over 6 stages. None of us have physiques that particularly lend themselves to cross country running - as suggested by our team name - and all of us sweat profusely if the temperature rises above a mild 15 degrees.

Our motivation will come from the 2 charities for which we are fundraising:

*Brain Tumour Research*

We are raising money for the Brain Tumour Research in memory of one of the team members mother in law - Carol Murphy.

Carol was diagnosed Jan 2022 and died in September 2024, at the age of 62, having been cruelly taken from us, far too soon. During the period of her diagnosis, she was fortunate enough to witness her 3 daughters get married and met both of her grandchildren. However, sadly due to severity of her illness, she passed away only days after they were both born.

Brain Tumour Research has the ultimate goal of finding a cure to brain tumours. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer and yet receive only 1% of the national spend on cancer research. They are therefore on a mission to increase the investment in research across the UK.

*The Friends of The Royal Marsden*

The Friends of The Royal Marsden, through a combination of fundraising, subscriptions, donations and legacies, works to support the Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital. This includes volunteers, purchase of medical equipment and items aimed at increasing the comfort of patients and staff.

To find out more about these fantastic charities, see the links below...

https://braintumourresearch.org/blogs/about/our-vision-mission-and-values?_gl=1*igpdpw*_ga*MTc0NTA3MzAyNS4xNzM2NjEyMTky*_up*MQ..

https://www.friendsroyalmarsdenchelsea.uk/about-us.html