Friend of Walkrite, Richard Conroy, and friends Dan Kirby and Darren Robinson are running the Marathon de Sables multi-day desert running race this month!
They will be starting the race on 25th March 2022 and raising money for KidsOut. You can see all the details of the charity, donate to their cause and see updates here: https://kidsoutuk.enthuse.com/pf/saharafunrun
The Marathon de Sables is known as being the toughest footrace on earth and is particularly hard on feet due to the distance (250 kilometres – the equivalent of 6 marathons), the duration (7 days), carrying all your own equipment, sleeping on the floor, the sand of course but, most challenging of all, the heat, as mid-day temperatures in the Sahara can peak at 50 degrees celcius!
One of the main reasons for not completing the race is damage to the feet in the form of blisters. We have been helping Richard and his friends with advice from footwear choice, strapping, how to manage moisture on the feet from sweating and products to help with padding and reducing friction.
Richard however, has the additional challenge of these flat feet which have served him well for many years! In reality, lots of athletes and runners have lower arch profiles and it does not mean that they need special treatment or will cause more issues. We will be exploring the issue of flat feet more next month.
We’ll post back soon with news of how they got on. Hopefully with feet in-tact! You can also follow the race live here: https://live.marathondessables.com/en/
