TWO local people will set off on ‘the toughest footrace on Earth’ this week as they take part in the 155-mile Marathon des Sables through the Moroccan desert.
Andrew Barr-Sim, from Frome, and Mells woman Ash Sinfield will start the mammoth challenge on Friday 8th April and spend six days running and walking in heats capable of exceeding 50°. The race, which dubs itself the toughest footrace on earth, demands that competitors travel a marathon every day and a double marathon on one day. British adventurer Ranulph Fiennes last year described his experience in the race as ‘more hellish than Hell.’
Andrew, managing director of local company Drum Commodities, has run the race twice before in 2008 and 2013. “I won’t say the race is enjoyable, because there’s a lot of pain involved,” he said. “But it’s very well organised and is set in some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. It’s also six days away from computers and phones and is a unique way of decluttering the mind.
“I feel better prepared physically than before, but there’s no way to be ready for how your body will react. Last time I ran out of water while running in 52°C heat and began to see things. The conditions are the hardest part to deal with – they’re gruesome.”
Andrew suffered from throat and neck cancer in 2008, and has raised money for the RUH in the past, but will this time be raising for Marie Curie, which looked after his father before his death ten years ago.
Andrew said, “The race is a great opportunity to raise money and I’m aiming for £4,000, which isn’t a huge amount but it’s my way of giving back. My own illness made me realise that I am mortal, and that challenges should be embraced. There are a lot of things I could never do, like being a doctor or an actor, but I can be stupid enough to run round the desert for six days.”
Competitors also have to carry their own equipment and food as they journey alongside approximately 1,300 contestants.
Ash Sinfield, who works at bootmaker Ted & Muffy, will be taking part for the first time after training for a year.
“Before I started training for this I had never run more than a half marathon,” she told Frome Times. “I have spent a lot of time in Africa and once cycled 10,500km across the continent; this race has been in the back of my mind for a long time.
“Part of the reason I want to do it is to show my three children that they are capable of doing anything they want – I feel this will be my way of giving that a reality.
“To train I’ve been running much longer distances and back-to-back days of running. I’m really looking forward to being in the desert and I think it’s going to be incredible. I am most worried about the double marathon day because I’ve never run that far before and I don’t know whether I can do it.”
Ash is hoping to raise £3,250 for Restart, a Kenyan charity that homes and schools homeless children in poor areas.
She said, “As well as inspiring my own children I want to help make a difference to children I haven’t met yet. It costs around £650 to give one child a place in the centre for a year and I’ve set myself the target of helping up to five.”
To sponsor either Andrew or Ash, search for their name online at uk.virginmoneygiving.com
