Benito, Benito…..what have you made us do??? You do realise this is ALL your fault? Yes, that’s right, dont play innocent here….it’s your sodding photos, too inspirational for their own good. That’s right. There i am last year, minding my own business at the World Press Photo Exhibition, wandering round, being wowed by the amazing images from across the globe, when my gaze stops for slightly longer at these photos - not bad huh?
i’d always fantasised about running a marathon in an unusual place (as you do) and this was the trigger i needed. A few bonkers photos of some people struggling along through a sandstorm. Odd. Well probably not really - i mean wouldn’t you be convinced by the following words: ‘Runners sometimes have to battle against sandstorms of up to 120 kilometers per hour, and at times cannot easily see where they are going.’ AWESOME. Where do i sign up?
When i tied the sahara marathon with another idea i had been toying with, of running a marathon in the pole, i suddenly realised i had stumbled upon potentially quite a cool idea…a ‘fire and ice’ marathon challenge. A few emails later and i had a raving mad south african screaming down the phone at me ‘mother russia! we HAVE to do this!!’. And here we are. Bugger.