What a brilliant week I've had! First coming back from the Marathon des Sables after successfully finishing in the wholly ridiculous time of just over 41 hours and coming in 260th out of the 849 finishers, then arriving home in time to see Albion promoted!
I ran most of the 150 miles across the desert in my Albion shirt, which held up very well considering the sand storms and rising temperatures that were recorded as high as 53C on the longest stage. I spoke to a couple of the organisers and they said they couldn't recall if anyone else had every run the MDS in a football shirt, but couldn't conclusively confirm it. Having said that, I did get a lot of strange looks, although with the Seagulls flag flying every day from my back pack I was treated to the occasional 'Seagulls!' while tripping across the dunes or struggling up a jebel or two, which was hugely encouraging. People were mainly encouraging actually and the very first chap that came up to me on the first day to mention the fact I was wearing a Brighton shirt turned out to be a Palace fan.
My parents also made sure I had the scores emailed to me in the desert which was fab. When everyone else was getting heartfelt messages of support from their loved ones, I was getting the Rochdale score! Priorities...
Anyway, some pics...
Race number and Albion flag on my rucksack
Caught in the sandstorm at the start of stage 2 - 24 miles
The start of stage 3 - just 24 miles today...
Trying to make my pack lighter
At the start of the 52 mile 'long day' - what would Gus have said?
One of the small hills the race organisers put in during the stages to make you suffer even more in the 50C+ heat.
Running on the 'long day' - I'm not ginger, that's sand in my beard!
We had a little treat in the desert in the form of the Paris Opera who performed a tune or two for us on the evening of the marathon day. Impressive stuff!
Looking a little worse for wear, but with my finishers medal!
Anyway, thanks for all the support of those who have sponsored me so far for rare kidney disease campaign Action For Alport's. If you have seen my pics and have followed my journey across the Sahara and are able to spare a little bit of cash, no matter how small, I would be most appreciative of any sponsorship to help me reach my target of £50,000 to kick off research into the condition.
You can sponsor me here: www.kidneyresearchukevents.org/jodyrunsthesahara
Also if you can help in any way promoting the cause or helping me raise even more money please drop me a PM.
Cheers
Jody
I ran most of the 150 miles across the desert in my Albion shirt, which held up very well considering the sand storms and rising temperatures that were recorded as high as 53C on the longest stage. I spoke to a couple of the organisers and they said they couldn't recall if anyone else had every run the MDS in a football shirt, but couldn't conclusively confirm it. Having said that, I did get a lot of strange looks, although with the Seagulls flag flying every day from my back pack I was treated to the occasional 'Seagulls!' while tripping across the dunes or struggling up a jebel or two, which was hugely encouraging. People were mainly encouraging actually and the very first chap that came up to me on the first day to mention the fact I was wearing a Brighton shirt turned out to be a Palace fan.
My parents also made sure I had the scores emailed to me in the desert which was fab. When everyone else was getting heartfelt messages of support from their loved ones, I was getting the Rochdale score! Priorities...
Anyway, some pics...
Race number and Albion flag on my rucksack
Caught in the sandstorm at the start of stage 2 - 24 miles
The start of stage 3 - just 24 miles today...
Trying to make my pack lighter
At the start of the 52 mile 'long day' - what would Gus have said?
One of the small hills the race organisers put in during the stages to make you suffer even more in the 50C+ heat.
Running on the 'long day' - I'm not ginger, that's sand in my beard!
We had a little treat in the desert in the form of the Paris Opera who performed a tune or two for us on the evening of the marathon day. Impressive stuff!
Looking a little worse for wear, but with my finishers medal!
Anyway, thanks for all the support of those who have sponsored me so far for rare kidney disease campaign Action For Alport's. If you have seen my pics and have followed my journey across the Sahara and are able to spare a little bit of cash, no matter how small, I would be most appreciative of any sponsorship to help me reach my target of £50,000 to kick off research into the condition.
You can sponsor me here: www.kidneyresearchukevents.org/jodyrunsthesahara
Also if you can help in any way promoting the cause or helping me raise even more money please drop me a PM.
Cheers
Jody
Brilliant effort. Well done.
