Vaughan to run the Marathon Des Sables

[Sat 14^th May]

For those of you that don't know me my name is Vaughan Hemy and I am currently a runner for North Shields Polytechnic running club and over the past 11 years I have completed 10 marathons including London, New York and Amsterdam. After my father died in 2004 I decided I needed to do something a little bit harder and more challenging which would raise a lot of money for the hospice where he spent his last 2 weeks (St Oswalds). So after a lot of research I have decided to do the Marathon Des Sables which is dubbed the "toughest footrace on Earth", the reasons being..

- 156 miles in the Sahara desert over 6 days.

- The longest day being 56 miles.

- Totally self sufficient (all equipment must be carried at all times, including sleeping bag, food, water and all other essentials)

- Temperatures can get as high as 50C and can be below freezing at night.

- Last year 30% of the race was run on soft sand including dunes up to 700ft high.

All stages must be completed in an allocated time, with penalties being given for not having essential food, water and emergency kit (even an anti venom pump must be carried at all times!!)

St Oswalds Hospice is an amazing place. My father was given a dignified last few weeks, where he was looked after by what I can only describe as angels.

They need £8 million per year to survive and only 25% of this (£2million) is provided by the government, therefore the other £6million  is raised by generous people like yourselves sponsoring mad men like me doing crazy challenges like the Marathon Des Sables.

Vaughan Hemy

To sponsor Vaughan please go to his Just Giving page www.justgiving.com/vh-mds