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Good Surname or what ?

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It's been a while since I posted on (or even read this forum). But now I'm back and I'm glad to see things continue much as before I took my sabbatical.

Two plus years ago I made the commitment to SWMBO to drop one or other of my obsessions for a while. My job regularly took me to West Africa and that had a big impact on family life. I also made the decision to participate in the Marathon des Sables (MdS) billed as the "toughest footrace on earth". I first saw this race on Transworld Sport in the early '90s and thought perhaps I'd do it one day.

The MdS is a 7 day, 6 stage footrace across the Sahara desert. The daily distances vary from a meagre half-marathon on the last day (laughingly known as the "Sprint" stage) to almost a double-marathon (this year 84 Km or 52 Miles) on the fourth or long stage. As this year was the 25th anniversary the total distance was exactly 250Km (150 Miles). The wrinkle is that it's a "self-sufficiency" race. The organisers provide medical cover and emergency evacuation , 8-man berber tents with carpeted floors and water. Other than that you carry all your own food, clothing, sleeping equipment and emergency gear. My bag weighed 12Kg at the start line.

As you can imagine I needed to train for this - I'm 52 and slightly too heavy :oops: To get ready I ran the Ridgeway in 3 days (84 miles), did a single day 45 mile run in the Brecon Beacons (ran into some SAS chaps doing similar) and numerous other stupid things. Hence my disappearance from this forum and my workshop. But now I've done the race and I'm rebalancing my life; I'm still continuing the ultra-running but at a lower level. SWMBO is happy for me to do a bit of this and that in the workshop - so expect some WIPs soon.

Finally, I ran this race for a charity Facing Africa. You can see some of their work on a BBC documentary screened at 9pm on Wednesday 9th June (tomorrow). The documentary is presented by Ben Fogle. Ben ran the MdS many years ago and was totally trashed. His partner James Cracknell did it this year and came 12th. I came about 750th out of 1000+ starters.

If the progam moves you please consider postponing that next tool purchase and make a donation. I paid all my own costs to do this race (entry fee alone is over £3000)
so you can be sure any money you donate goes straight to the good cause.
Thanks
 
Indeed, I am totally in awe of anyone who can do this. Interested to know whether you were already a runner or went at it from scratch as it were - I can barely manage 5k on a treadmill so even a marathon is a distant dream, let along 250km. Hats off to you =D> =D> =D>

Steve
 
Good Surname or what ?":1cwmr30h said:
It's been a while since I posted on (or even read this forum). But now I'm back and I'm glad to see things continue much as before I took my sabbatical.

Two plus years ago I made the commitment to SWMBO to drop one or other of my obsessions for a while. My job regularly took me to West Africa and that had a big impact on family life. I also made the decision to participate in the Marathon des Sables (MdS) billed as the "toughest footrace on earth". I first saw this race on Transworld Sport in the early '90s and thought perhaps I'd do it one day.

The MdS is a 7 day, 6 stage footrace across the Sahara desert. The daily distances vary from a meagre half-marathon on the last day (laughingly known as the "Sprint" stage) to almost a double-marathon (this year 84 Km or 52 Miles) on the fourth or long stage. As this year was the 25th anniversary the total distance was exactly 250Km (150 Miles). The wrinkle is that it's a "self-sufficiency" race. The organisers provide medical cover and emergency evacuation , 8-man berber tents with carpeted floors and water. Other than that you carry all your own food, clothing, sleeping equipment and emergency gear. My bag weighed 12Kg at the start line.

As you can imagine I needed to train for this - I'm 52 and slightly too heavy :oops: To get ready I ran the Ridgeway in 3 days (84 miles), did a single day 45 mile run in the Brecon Beacons (ran into some SAS chaps doing similar) and numerous other stupid things. Hence my disappearance from this forum and my workshop. But now I've done the race and I'm rebalancing my life; I'm still continuing the ultra-running but at a lower level. SWMBO is happy for me to do a bit of this and that in the workshop - so expect some WIPs soon.

Finally, I ran this race for a charity Facing Africa. You can see some of their work on a BBC documentary screened at 9pm on Wednesday 9th June (tomorrow). The documentary is presented by Ben Fogle. Ben ran the MdS many years ago and was totally trashed. His partner James Cracknell did it this year and came 12th. I came about 750th out of 1000+ starters.

If the progam moves you please consider postponing that next tool purchase and make a donation. I paid all my own costs to do this race (entry fee alone is over £3000)
so you can be sure any money you donate goes straight to the good cause.
Thanks

well done chap - a guy in our office (dave molloy) did the MdS this year too for the same cause and ive donated via him already

one small point of pedantry - the ridgeway is actually 87 miles ;)
 
=D> =D> =D>

Fantastic! I have wanted to do this for years. I'm 33 so maybe I'll wait until I'm your age before I start, give me a few training years ;)

I also want to climb Everest, but SWMBO is deeply unhappy with that! I also need to raise the £10k+ for the license! :shock:
 
big soft moosewell":11arou0v said:
a guy in our office (dave molloy) did the MdS this year too for the same cause and ive donated via him already

one small point of pedantry - the ridgeway is actually 87 miles ;)

Small world - I met Dave at a seminar and a few races and saw him again in the desert. He's a good runner and did well. The Ridgeway race stopped short of Avebury (at Barbury Castle) but with the odd detour I reckon I did 84.

StevieB - I was a triathlete for a few years and did Ironman Europe twice. But haven't done much long distance exercise since 1998 when I changed jobs and moved back to the southeast. I only started running because of a woman I met in 1992!

TrimTheKing - Everest would scare the pants off me. But I hope you get your chance. I met a guy in the desert who is walking to the South Pole recreating the Scott expedition - minus dying of course.

To all who aspire...to climb Everest, swim the Channel or walk to the South Pole. I used this as my mantra to stave off the fears and doubts.

It is not the critic who counts; ... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, ... who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt 1910
 
Good Surname or what ?":2wy3b1kj said:
It is not the critic who counts; ... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, ... who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt 1910
I love it!

That's going up on my wall!!!
 

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