Daring duo complete the planet’s toughest foot race

Andy Heath and Graham Nicoll both completed the infamous Marathon Des Sables - the equivalent of six marathons in six days, across the Sahara desert.

Although admitting that running is not his strongest event, Graham completed it in 40 hours 40 minutes

The 36 year old said: “The hardest part was on the last checkpoint on the longest day.

“I’d been on the go for over 14 hours and I was totally drained. Even though there was only ten miles to go, there was a part of me that just wanted to sleep.”

The triathlon veteran’s next challenge could take him to South America.

“I’m looking at doing a jungle run through the Amazon at some point, but I made a commitment to my wife that I wouldn’t do any more of these events in the immediate future, so it’ll be a while yet” he added.

Graham has a background in triathlon and has competed in an Iron Man race and also the 2009 New York Marathon.

His training regime consisted of three ten mile runs during the week and then a 20-mile run at the weekend.

He raised £10,000 for 
Mencap.

Finishing 479th out of 1,000 competitors, Graham was overwhelmed to make it to the finish, adding:“I’m really elated to have completed it, my body feels battered and bruised but I’ve not got any serous injuries. It was without doubt the most physically and mentally demanding challenge I’ve ever done.”

There was a nice moment amongst the madness, when the two Leamington runners met.

Graham said: “All of a sudden I saw this guy (Andy Heath) coming over a sand dune. He shouted over to me and we ran together for a while.”

Andy, 57, of Campion Terrace, completed the 166-mile race in under 40 hours, coming 420th out of over 1,000 runners.

“It was definitely the toughest thing I’ve ever done without a doubt,” he said.

“It’s left me with an immense sense of achievement. Some days it wasn’t a sport, it was just survival. Knowing that so many of my friends and family were actually watching me inching across the desert gave me a fantastic sense of pride. I really had to dig deep to keep on going.

“At one point my water ran out during the middle of the day when the temperature reached 54 degrees. I could feel my hands feet and tongue all swelling up and that required a huge amount of mental strength to keep my self going.”

Andy came out of the race with five missing toenails and a broken toe, something that isn’t uncommon for the race.

“Some days I could barely walk to the start line, but when the race begins you dig in, find another gear and get on with it,” he added.

Despite his injuries, Andy has no plans to retire yet, and hopes to go climbing in Borneo and then train for a Land’s End to John O Groats bike ride.