12 May 2008

Marathon Des Sables

On 30th March 2008 Andy Coles from White Watch, Bohemia Road community fire station in Hastings took part in a 153 mile marathon across the Saharra Desert in Morroco.

The Marathon Des Sables has been deemed the toughest footrace on earth and is a 6-day ultra-marathon across the sand dunes, mountains and desert plains of the Sahara Desert. This year was the 23rd Marathon Des Sables and over 800 people took part, running in temperatures of up to 51 degrees Celsius.

Following a year of very intense training and fundraising Andy Coles finished in 466th place out of the 750 people who competed the marathon and he raised an impressive £3000 for Cancer Research.

Andy Coles would like to thank all those who supported him during his training and the build up to the Marathon Des Sables. He commented,

“I have had lots of support from staff at East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and would like to thank Matt Starkey in particular who put a lot of time and effort into finding equipment, offering advice and organising important contacts prior to the marathon.

I would also like to thank Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive Des Prichard, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Chris Large, the Sports and Welfare department for their support and staff across the Service for their sponsorship”.