My Marathon in the Sahara, by Nick Horsfall

Here's something to inspire you... 

Starting out 

I've always been a sporty type, football being my main interest, but I got into long-distance running a couple of years ago. I'd always wanted to run a marathon and had watched the London Marathon on TV ever since I was a kid, wondering if I could do it.

In Nov '09 I was lucky enough to get a place on the New York marathon. The day was amazing. I achieved a time of 3:36 hours which, for my first marathon, I was really happy with. Not long afterwards I was offered a place through my work to run the London Marathon the following April ’10. Having enjoyed the New York so much I jumped at the chance and managed to achieve a time around London of 3:24 which I was thrilled at. Suddenly I was hooked! The buzz from crossing the finish line is something that is difficult to put into words.

I found myself surfing the internet looking for what other marathons there were around the world. Before I knew it I'd set myself a personal challenge to run a marathon on every continent. Having ran on two continents already, I started to look at possible marathons for the remaining 5 (including Australasia)...

Western Sahara Map

After a short time on google I came across www.marathonguide.com which led me to www.SaharaMarathon.org. My first thoughts were, "running a marathon through the Sahara Desert?!?!? How amazing would that be!!!" -Quickly followed by, "will I be able to do this? Will it be too hot?? What if I get kidnapped??? What it I get lost!.."

The adventurer in me won over and I started to look into the race. Reading through the website and peoples comments about their experiences of the SaharaMarathon and that increased my confidence enough to enter. I found the UK facilitators to be the Sandblast Charity group and so it began.

PRESS RELEASE: Brits prepare for Running the Sahara 2011

For immediate release: June 2009

Brits Prepare for Running the Sahara in 2011 in support of

Saharawi Refugees

Arts and human rights charity Sandblast launches its UK-wide Running the Sahara campaign for 2011 to raise funds and awareness for the plight of the indigenous Saharawi people of Western Sahara.

London, June 14, 2010 – “The sun rains down its unforgiving rays, everything tastes of sand and our feet are as sore as they’ve ever been”, says Weisi Guo, participant in the 2010 race, “but we have all left a piece of our heart in the Sahara dunes.”

 

Guo was one of the 32 people who joined charity director Danielle Smith on this adventure to the refugee camps on last February for the 10th Saharamarathon, the largest ever UK contingent to participate in the event.

As the official UK facilitator, the charity Sandblast’s annual fundraising project Running the Sahara connects the British people to the reality of close to 200,000 Saharawi refugees through the international sporting event known as the Saharamarathon.

Not to be confused with the Marathon des Sables in Morocco, the Saharamarathon takes place every year in the Algerian Sahara in the Saharawi refugee camps near Tindouf. Organized by the refugees themselves and volunteers from around the world, the solidarity sports competition has been growing from year to year. In its 10th edition in 2010, it attracted more than 400 participants from over 22 countries with an almost equal number of Saharawi refugees participating in it, including Saharawi triple gold medallist Salah Amaidan who won the 10km.

In 2010, the UK contingent raised more than £20,000 for Sandblast’s Saharawi Artist Fund, which finances activities in the camps to empower the refugees to tell their own story, promote their own culture and earn an income through the arts.

Sandblast’s founding director, Danielle Smith, explains, “protracted refugee situations like the Saharawi one suffer from oblivion, donor fatigue and trends that threaten their culture and identity. We focus on the arts because it is a medium with the greatest potential of harnessing global attention and recognition for the Saharawi plight and culture in a positive and inspiring way.”

In the next two years, Sandblast will aim to empower the Saharawis to present their culture and earn an income through their music in the form of the Studio-Live project. Danielle affirms, “there is huge talent in the camps. Saharawi music at this juncture most powerfully expresses their identity and struggle in a way that can reach global audiences and connect with musicians from all over the world.”

Information and details on the Running the Sahara campaign and how to sign up are available on the charity website at www.sandblast-arts.org/projects/running-the-sahara or get in touch with the Campaign Coordinator at runningthesahara@sandblast-arts.org.

-- ends --

To find out more please visit the Sandblast website at www.sandblast-arts.org.  

Press contact:

Cathrin Lemoine

Digital Communications Manager

Sandblast

T: 0044 7825916191   E: cathrin@sandblast-arts.org

Notes to Editor:

• On Sandblast: Sandblast is an arts and human rights charity working with the indigenous people from Western Sahara, the Saharawis. Their identity and culture is threatened by the impact of protracted exile and Morocco's integrationist policies.  It is our mission to empower the Saharawis to tell their own story, promote their own culture and earn a living through the arts.
• On Western Sahara: In a barren corner of the Algerian Sahara, close to 200,000 Saharawis have been living as refugees since the 1975 Moroccan invasion of their country, Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony in NW Africa. Despite the extreme hardships of their exile, the Saharawi refugee community has managed to build a vibrant, democratically run nation-in-exile, where women play a prominent role in all sectors of life, defying many Western preconceptions about Arab-Muslim societies. The Saharawis seek their independence in Western Sahara and have been waiting for the UN to implement the long promised referendum for their self-determination, originally scheduled for early 1992.
• On the Saharamarathon: This international sporting event evolved as a way to show solidarity with the Saharawi people and raise money for projects to improve the lives of the refugees. Organized by representatives of the Saharawi government and volunteers from all over the world, the first Saharamarathon was held in 2001. The event is also child-friendly. There is a race for children which takes place in one of the camps and many Saharawi children, 10 years and older, join in. AIMS (Association for International Marathons and Distance Runs) has sponsored this race over the past few years. Many of you will think it insane to run in the Sahara and fear baking to death. Don’t worry February is a mild month and the event is very well organised. Participants will be transported to the start of each race. The courses are marked with flags and stones, the terrain is mostly packed sand and is largely flat. There will be all the usual forms of support like regularly spaced water stations, four-wheel drives to provide assistance and medical assistance is provided by the International Red Crescent. The event has been growing each year and broadening its base of International participation. In 2010, nearly 1000 people ran in the Saharamarathon races from all over the world. For more info check: www.saharamarathon.org
• On Running the Sahara: Sandblast officially promotes the Saharamarathon in the UK with their campaign Running the Sahara. It facilitates participation in the event as well as raises awareness and funds for its arts ands cultural projects in the camps. 2011 Running the Sahara will be Sandblast’s third fundraising campaign in a row.
• On Salah Amaidan: His remarkable career began under the Moroccan occupation in Western Sahara and his life story is currently being made into a documentary by UK production company Tourist with a Typewriter. He dreams of participating in the 2012 London Olympics.

FEATURE #1 "Florie Salnot"

Florie Salnot, or when discarded plastic bottles become fashion items

DESERTED on September 7th did not only showcase two important documentaries on the Western Sahara issue, the Saharamarathon 2009, but also "Plastic Bottle Project", a film clip made by Florie Salnot on the jewellery-making workshop she guided in the Sahrawi camps.

Florie Salnot and the plastic bottles she used in her workshops (c) by Olivia Mann

Florie Salnot, an MA student and fashion artist, introduced her jewellery-making workshop in the Sahrawi refugee camps and presented the jewellery results thereof with a wonderful documentary (see below), the "real things" and a personal testimonial that warmed everyone's hearts.

Florie did a postgraduate degree at the Royal College of Arts when she dediced to do a design project in the Sahrawi refugee camps by producing jewellery with little resources but greatly empowering consequences.

Sponsored by the Sandblast-founded Saharawi Artist Fund (SAF), Florie travelled to the refugee camps in Dakhla for three weeks in April 2009 to teach a group of Saharawi women to produce unique pieces of jewellery out of plastic bottles and hot sand. By using and recycling the discarded plastic bottles and forming them with hot sand into delicate pendants and earrings, Florie aims to give the Sahrawi women the possibility to express themselves artistically, to empower them economically, and to strengthen their cultural identity.

In the long run, these pieces will be exported from the camps and sold to generate a source of income for the Sahrawi.

As a key feature of the DESERTED event, Florie told the audience a wonderful little anecdote from her experience in the camps with the Sahrawi women:

"During my workshop in Dakhla, the most rewarding was to see the Saharawi women becoming gradually proud of their work. One day, in the workshop, we realised that one of the best piece of jewellery had been stolen. It was a really nice piece with red and yellow flowers which really impressed everyone. As for me, I was furious. The Saharawi women reacted differently, they just laugh at it. When I asked why, they explained that they were happy to see how their work was so much appreciated that it could be stolen."

Watch the short documentary Florie Salnot produced to introduce her jewellery-making workshop in the Sahrawi refugee camps in SW Algeria.

"Plastic bottle project" by Florie Salnot (Source: YouTube)