Part 1 – Random Events
It was a chilly late October morning, 2015, when the email came through “The event organisers have accepted your entry – all you need to do now is make payment of the deposit and return the documents to me asap”, and that was that, unbeknownst to friends or family I had entered the Marathon Des Sables, a 255km 6 day race across the Sahara Desert. It was only two weeks earlier that I had been added to the waiting list, and with entry having closed a good 6 months earlier my inclusion in the 31st addition of the event was as about as likely as England winning the Euro’s. But there I was on the precipice of an event that I had only recently discovered whilst visiting a close surf friend in Cornwall.
Randomly in early October I made a last minute decision to visit Cornwall, a visit that happened to perfectly coincide with Ben Fogle’s Cornwall leg of his ‘Accidental Adventure Tour’. I can’t say I’ve ever been a Fogle fan, he’s frightfully posh and certainly doesn’t fit the underground DJ persona, but my friend had tickets and the location, the stunning cliff top open air Minack Theatre, were enough to win me over, and as the Atlantic ocean rhythmically pounded the rocks below on that balmy October 7th evening something profoundly shifted, I could feel my long lost sense of adventure being gently rekindled. A flame that had long been snuffed out in the frenzied activity of everyday life was flickering back into life, my heart quickened and perhaps for the first time in almost a decade I could feel a sense of hope and excitement for the future. Here is where my unexpected journey really began…
Two weeks after paying my deposit, via my newly acquired credit card, I was promptly made redundant. No warning, I had even just been given a pay rise a few weeks earlier. To say that this was unexpected would be an understatement and with the final payment for the race looming and the subsequent minimum payments unavoidable it is fair to say that my newly acquired optimism had been emphatically dashed against the rocks. What had become a beacon of hope for my future was potentially about to become a millstone around my neck. The deposit was non refundable, I was committed… [Part 2 – Virus]
Our Sponsor pages will open to the end of the month if you’d still like to support us.
Donate here [Just Giving] World Vision – The Worlds largest Childrens Charity which fights abuse and offers international disaster relief for children. WV has an exemplary track record of transparency around their finances. With 84% of every pound going to directly to charitable activities: .
Donate Here [Just Giving] The Youth Sports Trust – A UK based organisation that use’s sport to change young people’s lives. Such as the ‘Girls Active’ initiative which looks to tackle the negative image young girls have about their bodies.
Donate Here [Just Giving] Jon E Cassell – In addition to the primary objective of inspiring others and raising money for two organisations that are dynamically trying to shape the world in a positive way Jon also needs to raise £3500 to cover a portion of his own expenses to enter the race. However whilst covering these costs are ultimately important we dont want this request to detract from what we have said above, hence why we have mentioned this last.