Adam Ball completes Marathon des Sables

Adam Ball completes Marathon des Sables

Adam Ball has completed the 156-mile Marathon des Sables, and beat his goal of raising £8,000 for Hope for Children.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/138/community-news/108183/adam-ball-taking-on-156mile-ultra-marathon-in-sahara-desert-to-raise-%C2%A38000-for-hope-for-children

The former Crompton House pupil took on the race in April and raised £8,920.52 for the charity which provides education and healthcare to deprived children.

Adam, who grew up in Rochdale, had never taken part in an ultramarathon before (any distance over the traditional 26.2-mile marathon) but gave it a go because "it’s a challenge, but do-able". He lost a stone as a result of the race, but says he has put it back on since returning.

He said: “I made it across and back safe and sound, but I think I underestimated it. It was good fun though.

“I did get an injury on my foot from playing football before I left and my right heel bruised, which I think affected things. People in my tent had it much worse than me, one man had five IVs in a night and another woman had three. Someone else had a heart attack and someone had a toe amputated. It was pretty vicious.

“Once I was over my feet, it was good. It was unbelievable, the long stretches of sand weren’t that fun, but on the third day, we had to climb mountains. It was a relief to start running on the first day because there was such a build-up with all the preparation.”

The ultra, billed as ‘The Toughest Race on Earth’, saw competitors cover 156 miles in temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius and up. Adam says he didn’t mind the heat, which reached up to 58 degrees Celsius.

More than 14,000 participants have entered since its conception in 1986. 

The route and distances for each stage vary each year and have a time limit. If runners do not complete a set stage before the time limit, they are eliminated from the race.

The 27-year-old, who now lives in Leamington Spa, had to be completely self-sufficient and carry everything he required for the race in a backpack weighing around 10kg. 

Adam, who is a mechanical engineer, started running in 2014 because he thought running would be "easy, but it’s not". His first marathon was the Paris Marathon, and he has since completed marathons in Amsterdam and Rome.

He is planning on taking on the Tour Divide in June 2018, a long-distance cycling race between Canada and Mexico covering 2,745 miles.

Adam said: “The record is 13 days. I fancy giving that a go; I think I’m better suited to that. I don’t think you can go into that as lightheartedly as the run. I’ll be doing long distance cycling to train because you average 160-170 miles a day.”