On arrival back from the Great Wall of China I was ready for another challenge. I tried to enter the Marathon de Stables but much to my surprise there was a 2 year waiting list and I didn’t want to wait that length of time, I wanted something in the near future.

The next option was the 100km Del Sahara the only problem with this was that the North Pole Race that I had signed up for was 20 days after the Sahara and to me the North Pole was a major milestone for me. At that point I wasn’t too fired up about the Sahara run but it was something that I knew I had to get out of my system so it was onward and upward. I was heading off to Italy and then onto Tunisia and what an experience awaited me.

When we arrived in Tunisia we had to get a bus from the Island of Djerba to the gates of the Sahara Desert. One of the reasons that made me do the Sahara was that all the proceeds of the race were going to Nigeria to help with the irrigation and I held Nigeria close to my heart because my sister worked as part of the VSO there and I went to visit her in Africa and seen first hand the conditions that these people have to live in.

On our way to the starting point in the desert we stopped at one of the Tunisian water stations, this was where they filmed Star Wars. We eventually arrived at base camp and had to check that we had all our survival kit in place, our anti-venom kit in case we were bitten by a snake or a scorpion, our bladder pack, torch and various other bits and pieces. If you didn’t have all the required equipment and a medical certificate you were not allowed to run the race, I realised the importance of this when I was running the race. I got the ok from the race director and headed off to my tent to meet the other guys that I was sharing a tent with. They were all great guys but I seemed to hit it off really well with a guy called Johnny who was Irish; we were a good combination and just seemed to bounce off each other. He was to be part of my life for the next month but I’ll elaborate more later.

RACE DAY

I was ready to go, I had my Scotland vest and kilt on, my sun cream was on and my survival kit was all in place, As with the Great Wall, everyone wanted there photo taken with the Scotsman in his kilt. Now we were off and on our way, the pace was slow to start until we reached the first 1000 feet climb, at this point some of the guys came into their own, and away they went taking the climb in their stride. I tried to stay with them, I did for about the first 200 feet then there was no way I could keep up with them. Little did I know that the guy I was running with won bronze at the Olympics, 3 miles into the race he came into his own.

One of the most off putting things about running in the desert is that there is nothing to look at for hundreds of miles, absolutely nothing, it is absolutely soul destroying. From the start to the finish of the race the wind was constantly blowing in towards me which was extremely hard going as it kept catching my kilt and blowing me back again. The wind was so severe that it blew the kilt half off me; it burst the leather straps on it which I had to get repaired when I returned home.

If the wind had been behind me then that would have been a different story I was feeling very dejected. I got through the first day okay but I knew that this was going to be the hardest race that I had ran, and I didn’t want to show any signs of being sore to the medical team because if I had they would have been watching me all the time and I didn’t want to risk not finishing the race. On returning to camp after the first stage of the race I had a shower, there were huge containers filled with water in situ but the water was absolutely freezing, I didn’t shower again for the next four days, it was too cold.

The organisers of the race were Italian which meant that the food was mainly pasta and it was absolutely delicious and every night the tables were well stocked with red wine I didn’t know whether this was really appropriate to give this to marathon runners who were running consistently for 5 days but who was I to question them and all the Italians were certainly indulging in the red wine!! The tents had flaps at the front and back which meant that the sand could whirl straight through while you were in your sleeping bag, at least we weren’t directly on the sand, we had mats to lie on in our sleeping bags. I got up one night for the toilet- which was anywhere in the desert you could find well away from the tents - and there was a layer of frost over the sand which had settled over my sleeping bag. Who would have believed that there would be frost in the desert? If you got up during the night for the toilet there could be someone right next to you but you couldn’t see them because it was so dark. Anyway, back to the race, it was day 2 and we were off again and it was going to be very tough, we had a 19 km straight sandy road to run, it was absolute torture.

If I hadn’t had my I Pod with me I think I would probably still be out there. It was so tough on the mind; I was up to my ankles in sand, not a thing in sight with the wind blowing against me – why was I doing this? I glanced at my arms with the usual names on it, Clare, Meghan, Maia and my mum and dad. I knew I had to focus and get my head down I remember telling myself just to run and run until I could run no more. I eventually reached the finish line and what a struggle it had been but I had made it and I still had my sanity!! That night I was starting to get frustrated, I wanted to see Clare and my 2 girls but the nearest I could get to that was phoning via satellite phone and it was really good to hear their voices it numbed the pain for a short time.

That night I succumbed to the pain and had to go to the medical tent as my feet were absolutely covered in blisters so bad that I couldn’t walk properly. The doctor looked at my feet and got her scalpel out and cut open the blisters and just to add insult to injury while she was doing this she started to talk to someone else and ended up cutting the wrong toe – could things get any worse. When I walked from the medical tent my feet looked like they belonged to a mummy they were bandaged up so much. That night I also started getting emails from Clare and the girls and that’s what kept me going, I got dozens every day, it was something for me to look forward to and at the end of the race I was recognised by the race team for receiving the most emails. It was now day 3 and we were doing our warm up before the race started when one of the Italians got bitten by a Scorpion, he sat on it and he was only about 10 feet away from me.

The schedule for the day was a 28 km run during the day and a 10 km night time run. It was the same old story, the wind was blowing against me all the way and I was trying not to think about my very sore feet, then before I knew it I was on my back with my hands over my face, my feet were absolutely agony. I knew at this point that something was seriously wrong; it just wasn’t the blisters I just prayed to God that I could get up and run just a little bit longer. I got up and found a position that was just bearable I still had 14 miles to go, I crawled over the finish line. After the race I found out I had broken a bone in my foot. For the rest of that day I had my foot on ice and had to take some painkillers so that I had any chance of running the night race.

Before the night race we were warned not to go off the track which was lit by candles because at night there are lots of snakes and scorpions around. I knew that if my foot held out that I could do well at this stage because there was no breeze at all to hinder me. I started and finished this stage of the race at a very good pace, I was home first and felt like a million dollars, although I had to run in a very strange position I felt really good about myself, remember there were Olympic athletes in this race but maybe they were having a breather. I was on a high until I realised that the race the next day was over the deadly sand dunes of the Sahara Desert. I also got an email that night from Clare telling me that it was snowing back home in Saltcoats, I couldn’t believe it everyone at home was having snowball fights and building snowmen and here I was in the sweltering Sahara in agony, I would have done anything for a swap. I went to bed that night with not only a very sore foot but also a very sore stomach. I was up every hour that night with a very upset stomach; this was all I needed, what else was going to happen. When I got up the next morning my stomach still hurt so I had to take some tablets to try and stop me running to the toilet but as everyone started the race I was still trying to cope with an upset stomach it was a nightmare, here was I with my pants at my ankles.

The night before we had also received a briefing from logistics warning us that there was a sand storm brewing so we were to try and get to the end of the race as quickly as possible. As everyone set off there was of course a storm brewing, I had to put my mask and goggles on, I could hardly see 20 feet in front of me but suddenly out of nowhere a donkey ran in front of me, I couldn’t believe it but some of the other guys said that they had seen it at dinner that night but I hadn’t. Going up and down the sand dunes was probably the hardest thing I have ever done, I ran some of it in my bare feet but my blisters and the sand weren’t a good mix,

my feet were stinging but when I had my trainers on they were filling with sand every 20 steps and I had to keep emptying them so I couldn’t win on that score. The next thing I knew it was as if someone had put the light out and started making a terrible noise, I had to stop at the bottom of the dune and wrap myself in my foil blanket because the sand was taking the skin off me. At first I couldn’t see my feet then I couldn’t see my knees, I was getting buried. I started talking to my mum and dad and praying that I would get out of this I had a wife and 2 daughters to go home to, I shouldn’t be here I thought, so many things passed through mind.

The storm lasted 28 minutes and during that time I kept saying ‘In God I have put my trust, I will not be afraid, In God I have put my trust I will not be afraid’, I said this over and over again. The storm stopped and out came the sun again it was unbelievable and off I set again. I crossed the finish line shouting and screaming through pain, relief and frustration. At that the Italian organisers came over and put my medal round my neck, kissed both cheeks and gave me a hug they thought it was amazing that I had done all this with a kilt on. At the end of the race there was an oasis, a volcanic spring that had been there for hundreds of years and had been used by Foreign Legion soldiers. I walked up to the spring and jumped in, it was a little piece of heaven. All the guys from my tent were in this volcanic spring in the middle of the Sahara Desert after surviving this torturous 5 day stage race, it was amazing. We spent all night in the spring drinking coca cola and singing, these really were special moments. I got close to these guys, I will probably never see most of them again in my life but we shared something special together and helped get each other through this gruelling race. If anyone reading this is thinking of doing a stage race then this is the one to do, it is very challenging but you are very well looked after by the race organisers. These 5 days hold a special place in my heart, the stories, my tent buddies, the desert, the friendships, the storm not to mention the extreme pain but also the sheer delight!

The organisers presented me with a lovely trophy – a Desert Rose for showing true commitment and dedication throughout the race and for wearing my kilt in those terrible conditions. The guy who won the race had won a bronze medal in the Atlants Olympics. I was leaving the Sahara Desert with a lifetime of memories and into the bargain I could barley walk. When I saw Clare, Meghan and Maia at the airport I broke down and cuddled my girls, as usual I gave my daughters my medal and limped to the car. The look on Clare’s face was one of horror, she had never seen me in this condition before, I was like a frail old man. When I got home, I went straight to the doctors who confirmed that I had broken bones in my foot – the problem was I was to run the North Pole marathon 20 days later!!!

How difficult was it?.......................................9/10