FELSTED: Charlie is hot on the heels of charity target

BLISTERING heat, scorching desert and painful injuries from the outset faced an Essex man who ran 151 miles across the Sahara Desert in just six days.

Charlie Pitcher, 46, lived in Burnham and Chelmsford before moving to Felsted eight years ago. Earlier this month he completed the gruelling Marathon des Sables in Morocco as part of a massive fund-raising effort in memory of a friend, which will culminate in him rowing the Atlantic solo later this year.

The race is the ultimate test for runners, who run the equivalent of five and a half marathons in six consecutive days.

Charlie is raising money for the renal unit of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge in memory of his friend Shaun McLeod Jones who spent 13 years on dialysis there but lost his battle with kidney disease six years ago.

Charlie, who runs a London-based property firm, said: "I always wanted to run the Sahara Desert and have thought about it, but never got round to doing it. It's a popular event and has a three year waiting list. Luckily it became available for me this year and happened to coincide with the Atlantic row that I was planning to do later in the year.

"I started training last October and thankfully I was in pretty good shape. I was doing more running in the months leading up to the event and ran 40 miles each weekend."

There were many setbacks during the event including two days of torrential rain, which nearly led to the race being cancelled due to flooding.

On the first day an old knee injury flared up, forcing Charlie to speed walk most of the way as it was so painful.

He said: "After the first day of the race I was in 100th place, but because of my leg I couldn't keep up that pace. I decided to try to finish in the top 200, but just completing the event was the best feeling.

"I was in good spirits throughout the journey and really loved it. I made a lot of friends and there was a real sense of brotherhood and comradeship."

Charlie came an impressive 182nd out of 850 runners and 33rd out of the 300 British runners taking part.

Charlie will continue his fundraising mission when he tackles 3,000 miles of open ocean in the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race in December. Rowing alone from the Canary Islands to Antigua, Charlie has set himself a target of finishing the race in 74 days or less.

Charlie, who has been training on the River Crouch, has so far raised £5,000 for the unit, and is hoping to raise £100,000 altogether.

To sponsor Charlie and follow his journey visit www.transatlanticsolo.com