Team faces desert challenge

2:11pm Friday 18th April 2008

A 20-YEAR-OLD man is in training for the hottest race of his life - which could see him make the record books.

Alexander Budge, of West Hendred, will run 400 miles across the Kalahari desert, in Botswana, Africa, with three friends to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

If successful, his team, made up of students, twins Harry and Toby Mossop, 20, and Robert Hemms, 21, would be the first people to run across the desert as a relay. Each of them must run a half marathon a day for eight days to reach the other side. However, the race in 35 degree heat is just part of the challenge they have set themselves.

They must also drive their Land Rover the length of the African continent, from Alexandria in Egypt to Cape Town in South Africa, as part of the 95-day expedition, which starts in June.

Alexander, a Leeds University student, is hoping to raise £30,000 - and, with a £20,000 anonymous donation and sponsorship from Land Rover, Michelin and Witney-based company Meech International, he is well on the way.

All the money will be split between Help for Heroes, which supports soldiers injured in conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Tusk Trust, a wildlife conservation and community development project for sub-Saharan Africa.

The former Radley College pupil, who wants to join the army, said: "We wanted to make people think it was mad enough to sponsor us. It's a bit unusual. We thought we wanted to do something a bit unique.

"There are bushmen who have walked across the desert but no one has done it running."

Mr Budge came up with the idea after travelling with his friends across the Western Sahara, in Morocco, last summer.

He said: "We were just all sitting there in the Land Rover thinking of what we could do next summer and came up with the relay.

"The run is going to be quite demanding so we have a fitness regime going on and we have planned two months of temperature conditioning into the journey to get used to the heat.

"Heat stroke is a major factor so we are doing all we can to prepare ourselves for the run." Each team member will run alone with the vehicle close by for support in case of an emergency and he will be relieved after each 10km.

He said: "I'm really looking forward to it, the journey will be amazing. I'm sure the race will be unpleasant but it will provide us with pride when we've done it and we will have raised so much money for charity, I'm sure it will be very rewarding.

"It will be the last few days that will take all our willpower and determination to complete, running on already exhausted and sore limbs with no let up on the daily routine."

To donate or sponsor the team, visit the website: www.justgiving.com/africandescent or email them at: tobymossop@hotmail.co.uk

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