Last month Evan Laframboise took part in the infamous Marathon des Sables in Morocco to raise money for Variety, the Children’s Charity of Jersey.
And he has already raised £4,465 of his original £5,000 target, which will go towards helping the charity in its work with disabled and needy children.
The 250km race, which has been dubbed the ‘toughest foot race on earth’, is completed in stages over six days and requires participants to be self-sufficient by carrying their own food, equipment and clothing.
Speaking about the race, Mr Laframboise said: ‘It was the most surreal, extreme and gruelling experience I’ve had to date.
‘The heat in the day while running was relentless, followed then by sandstorms, which kept us up all night, combined with limited food and water, meaning we all became more and more exhausted each day.
‘Running on the sand was difficult, as you felt you were wasting energy with every step. The Jebels – mountain ranges – were absolutely enormous, making Jersey’s sand dunes seem like tiny speed bumps.’
The 26-year-old former Victoria College student, who took part in a training camp on Lanzarote’s lava fields to help him prepare for the event, was inspired to enter the race after his boss successfully completed it a number of years ago.
‘I was lucky enough to know a really great group of people doing the race, so camp life was always fun,’ he said.
Mr Laframboise added that there were some challenging parts of the race: ‘Myself and another British runner ran out of food early on and we became a bit delirious and thought that rocks were protein balls.
‘During the third stage of the race I managed to lead one of the top racers the wrong way and we ended up having to scale a cliff edge to get back on track.
‘I apologised profusely to her but proceeded to do the same thing again a mile later and we had to run down the side of a Jebel, down loose rocks, to get back on course.’
Mr Laframboise said it was at that point that the pair of runners decided it was probably best to part ways.
To donate, search for Evan Laframboise at justgiving.com.
