Melksham man’s 270km desert run raises vital funds for charity

A man from Melksham has completed a 270km endurance run across the Sahara Desert in southern Morocco, raising nearly £3,000 for Dorothy House Hospice Care.

Liam Ralph ran the gruelling Marathon des Sables last month in temperatures as high as 40 degrees. He ran across sand dunes while battling minimal sleep, carrying 10kg of equipment in a rucksack including food, cooking equipment, water, hygiene items, first aid and clothes.

He has raised £2,921 for Dorothy House Hospice Care, which provided palliative care to his uncle when he died of motor neurone disease.

Liam, who completed the challenge in stages, said, “The long stage, 100km, took me 23 hours of running and walking through day and night. It was extremely difficult, as in the three days before I had run 35, 40 and 29 kilometres.

“Physically, the marathon stage the day after the 100km stage was the hardest due to a long period of soft sand dunes from about 5km out until the finish line in very high temperatures.

“The main challenge was fighting through the attrition of minimal sleep due to poor weather and sandstorms filling up the tent with sand at night, as they are open sided. That on top of running long distances every day carrying a heavy pack and only being able to eat the food you carry on you meant you never get a chance for your body to recover.”

Liam said he was often out running at the hottest part of the day.

“The heat played a big factor in the longer stages,” he said. “Lots of people suffered with heat-related illnesses, with many collapsing from heat stroke and being attended to by the brilliant medical team.”

However, appreciating the beauty of the desert and being on top of mountainous sand dunes were a real highlight. Liam said, “Also, the friends made in the bivouac while sleeping in Berber tents for eight nights was a highlight. There was a real community spirit and everyone helped each other the best they could at all times, both out on the course and in the bivouac.”