Seagull over the Sahara - running the 150 miles Marathon des Sables for charity

[Josky]

Good afternoon,

I don't post much - except for the occasionally witty retort here and there (I like to think) - but I'm going out on a limb and starting a whole thread to ask the good people of NSC for their support as I'm running the infamous Marathon des Sables at the beginning of April for rare kidney disease charity, Action For Alport's.

You may have seen a bit about my 150 slog across the desert in six days in the Albion match day programme at Plymouth (I've scanned it here). The club have been absolutely marvellous in helping promote my cause. I'm going to be popping down the club shop soon with one of the Albion in the Community chaps to pick out some natty Seagulls merchandise so I can try and bag some pics of Albion colours scaling mammoth dunes in Southern Morocco. A sort of metaphor for our season so far, perhaps.

The charity campaign is aimed at raising £50,000 to start research into a form of hereditary kidney disease that can leave its sufferers deaf by 10 years of age and needing transplants before 20. It's a horrible syndrome and very personal as my 7 year-old nephew has been diagnosed with it.

I know with so many other runs and charities vying for attention, these pleas increasingly fall on desensitised ears, but if you can sponsor me in any way, even if it's just a few pounds, I would be hugely grateful. My sponsorship page is here with more details.

Also, I'm looking for any suggestions in trying to raise awareness for my journey before I go, so if you're a fund raising pro, please let me know!

Thanks!

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

Deserves a bounce.

 

[Josky]

Cheers FG and thanks Bozza for making this a sticky.

Also, if anyone is on twitter and is happy to give my cause a bit of a push with a RT or two, you can find me at twitter.com/jodyrunssahara I would be hugely appreciative!

 

[readingstockport]

One of my work colleagues did this last year and she was f'd by the end of it. I won't tell you what happened to her feet.
Anyone who does this is mad and deserves all the credit they can garner. Utmost respect to you for even attempting it, I wish I had the fitness and bottle to give it a go.

There is a programme on discovery channell apparentlty next Thursday, 24th March, about James Cracknell doing this last year as well.

 

[Josky]

It's my feet I'm most worried about, which is why I'm taping my toes, lubing them up, using two pairs of socks (I have a 'sock strategy') and have had a fetching pair of gaiters made of golden parachute material stitched to my trainers to stop any sand getting in. I'll still lose all my toenails, I reckon.

The waiting list for it was three years when I signed up in July 2008, so I've had plenty of time to mentally and physically prepare for it (although I do keep having dreams about running through the desert starkers, so maybe I'm not as mentally prepared as I thought). I reckon most people could do it with enough preparation. And cash.

Cheers for the heads-up about the Cracknell documentary. He came in 12th in the end I think and was still seven hours behind the winner!

 

[readingstockport]

She lost her toenails. She finished in about 60 hours in the end. The longest leg/day took her 26 hours to complete. The winner finished the eentire thing in a cumulative of about 29 I think it was.

 

[Josky]

Ha ha! Just checked. Mohammad Ahansal finished the whole thing in 19 hours 45 minutes. Cracknell, who came 12th finished it in 25 hours 29 minutes. Unbelievable - but then Ahansal used to run alongside the runners in the desert when he was a kid, so he should be ace at it by now...

 

[readingstockport]

Oh shit, even to try this shit is amazing and I wish you all the best. I rarely give to charity on things like this as I give money to charities of my own choice but because you are evidently mad I will make a donation to you for doing this.

All the best and I hope you make it to the finish.

 

[Spamdrew]

i was raising money for a classroom in malawi a while back, i used the site justgiving.com . if you make an account its really easy to get people to make donations, just send a link to everyone you know. The government also donate a proportional amount. i raised a few hundred, but i know some people raised well over a grand. you may want to take a look at it.

best of luck, i wish i had the balls to do something like that!!

 

[Josky]

Cheers. I have set up a fundraising page, but because it's with Kidney Research UK they use their own fundraising site, rather than Justgiving as it means they have more control over the money (allegedly).

It's not particular easy to remember, though. Here it is: www.kidneyresearchukevents.org/jodyrunsthesahara

On another note, though, if anyone has purchased the Independent today, I have a full page feature in there all about my challenge and why I'm raising the money for rare kidney disease Alport's.

 

[Josky]

Oh, and Toughest Race On Earth with James Cracknell is on Discovery Channel tonight at 9pm documenting his attempt at the Marathon des Sables last year. Review here: http://www.ontvtonight.org/#11

I will NOT be attempting to beat his 12th place finish. I'll be happy with 13th/14th...

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Top stuff, good luck, Jody. Will link to you from the Mosaic's Twitter page

 

[Josky]

Smashing, thank you!

 

[Josky]

If anyone's interested I was featured in The Independent's fundraising section. Unfortunately, it's not online, but I scanned it. The quality's not great, but it's readable...

The Independent - One step beyond - The man planning to run the Sahara

 

[manintheblackpajamas]

after looking at your page... small world! - i went to the vale school and i used to film and edit red carpets for lovefilm.com, but that is where the similarity ends - i literally could not do that sahara craziness. (unless i've mistaken you and there's no similarity at all!)

wow - good luck with it all...

 

[cw00]

just read this:

The course covers 151 miles - or five and a half marathons - with the longest stage covering a staggering 50 miles through the wilderness. As if that weren't tough enough, competitors have to carry their own food and medical supplies, although there are water tents along the way.

If that sounds like a recipe for disaster to you, you'd be right: in 1994, Italian policeman Mauro Prosperi got lost in a sandstorm, inadvertently ran into Algeria, and survived by drinking his own urine and eating bats and snakes he found in an abandoned mosque.

He tried to kill himself but his blood had thickened so much from a lack of water that his cut wrists healed too quickly to let him die. Luckily, he was found by Bedouins and lived both to tell the tale and to run the race three more times - completing it safely on each occasion.

bloody hell, good luck!

 

[Bob!]

Brighton and Hove Albion | News | Latest News | Latest News | Jody Completes Desert Footrace

 

[Josky]

Ha ha! Smashing work - I'll post plenty more pics from the run today. It was an amazing experience. Although not so much when the first person who came up to me admitted being a Palace fan....

 

[Josky]

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?

Running on the 'long day' - I'm not ginger, that's sand in my beard!

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