MYTIME Active’s head of IT James Betteridge has completed the gruelling Marathon des Sables, a seven-day, 250km self-sufficient race in the Moroccan Sahara Desert, considered one of the toughest foot races on Earth.
James, who has worked at the charitable leisure trust for three years, has so far raised almost £3,000 for Cure Parkinson’s, a charity very close to his heart, as friends and close family have been diagnosed with the disease.
He said: “When I signed up for this challenge I genuinely thought it was unachievable. I’m a keen runner and have completed many running and sporting challenges, such as Iron Man, but the Marathon des Sables is in a different league.
“The daily distances are incredibly challenging, but what adds to the difficulty is the requirement to carry all personal food and gear for the seven days.
“My backpack weighed in at 10kg, and we slept in a basic tent that the organisers put up each night in the desert. Early mornings were crucial; we’d start at 6am to tackle most of the running before the scorching 44-degree heat set in. One particularly intense day saw us covering a staggering 85km.
“The only way I managed the race was to think about the distances between each water check point, rather than focusing on the full day of running ahead. I was ecstatic and relieved when I finished, and was really pleased that I still completed the final half marathon on the last day in two-and-a-half hours.