A Wimbledon man has embarked on a charity trip of a lifetime - a seven day, 150 mile race across the Sahara.

Paul Rowlinson, 42, and two friends, Luke Carmichael and Mark Webster, began the race on Sunday and are raising money for children’s hospice Chase.

The trio are three of some 150 competitors taking part in the challenge, and will have to carry all their own food and equipment.

For four days they have to complete a marathon distance run followed by a 50 mile challenge on the fifth day and a final sprint to the finish in front of Egypt’s pyramids.

Speaking before he left, Paul said: “It promises to be deeply uncomfortable at times, and no washing means we'll be kicking up a bit of a stink by the end of the week.”

To train for the challenge, Paul completed a 50 mile race through the snow from Oxford to Henley in February, and a brutal 100km race across the hills of the Lake District in June.

But their most challenging warm up to the event was three marathons in three days - The Atlantic Coast Challenge along Cornwall’s rugged north coast between Trevose and Lands End.

Paul said: “It was the first time all three of us had been away and run in an event together. A chance to see how we got on as a team, how we coped with long runs back to back, test kit and try the freeze-dried rations we’ll be living on in the desert.

“By the time we crossed the finish line we had covered around 29 miles on the final day. Exhausting and exhilarating in equal measure. We finished 25th on the final day in a time of six hours, 53 minutes.

“Having spent around 17 hours running, walking and scrambling 80 miles over the previous three days it was a great feeling to finish.”

Chase events manager Michelle Nippress said: “This is quite a challenge - we are totally in awe of Paul, Luke and Mark for taking this on.”

Log on to teamchaseuk.com to find out more.

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