Desert race was 'once in a lifetime' experience

A man who took part in what has been dubbed "the toughest foot race on earth" has described it as a "once in a lifetime" experience.

Charlie Parish, 36, took part in the 252km (155 mile) Marathon des Sables through the Sahara Desert in Morocco to raise awareness of men's mental health and has raised more than £2,000 for charity.

He carried all of his gear and food during the seven-day race, and slept in a tent with eight other people.

Mr Parish, from Harrogate, trained in a special heated laboratory at Leeds Beckett University and expected temperatures to be up to 50C (122F) - but was pleased it turned out to be a little cooler.

The terrain ranged from sand to hard paths, he said, adding: "Finding myself running up near vertical sand dunes was soul destroying at times."

"We got rain on one day and I was loving it," Mr Parish said.

"It felt like I was back in Yorkshire, it was surreal to get rain in the Sahara."

However, the temperature reached more than 30C on most days, he added.

Mr Parish said he had also underestimated how tough it would be to camp in the desert.

"In the evenings we were bombarded by winds and sandstorms and our tent came down at night," he said.

"Looking across at a tentmate wearing swimming goggles because sand was everywhere will stay with me a while."

But it was the views and scenery that really made the experience special for him: "I kept waiting for the Lion King scene - when the monkey lifts up Simba.

"It was definitely a once in a lifetime thing. The views were surreal."

Mr Parish was fundraising for suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (Calm) and said that was a huge motivation for doing the race.

"One of the major positives [during the race] was being surrounded by like-minded people and the amount of men talking about mental health was great," he said.

Out of 847 competitors in the Marathon des Sables, Mr Parish finished in 158th place and said he was proud of what he had achieved.

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