James Cracknell finishes desert endurance race for the Legion
13 April 2010
Olympic gold medal rower and adventurer James Cracknell has crossed the finishing line in twelfth position in the Marathon des Sables, dubbed the 'toughest race on earth', in support of The Royal British Legion.
Cracknell saw off competition from over 1,000 other runners from across the globe to become the highest-ever placed Brit in the history of the race.
The Marathon des Sables is the ultimate test of human endurance, pushing even the toughest athletes to their limits and beyond. This year's event across the Sahara Desert in Morocco was a six-stage, 250 kilometre race over sand dunes, mountains and salt flats in temperatures reaching up to 50°C.
The Olympian took on the challenge to raise awareness of the Legion's work, wearing Poppy branded kit, whilst at the same time surrendering his body to science to become a living, breathing, competing experiment.
His endeavour, which was captured by a Discovery Channel documentary film crew, will premiere on Discovery Channel and Discovery HD on 22 August at 9.00pm.
During the race Cracknell was responsible for carrying all his own food and supplies, navigating across a set course, and ending in a different campsite each night. Each day he faced different challenges, different terrain and distances ranging from 25km to 80km.
Cracknell said: "This has been the toughest race of my life. I thought that after stepping out of the boat in 1995, racing could not get any tougher. This really has proved me horribly wrong."
James ran the Marathon des Sables to show his support for The Royal British Legion and the scientific data collected will be used to assist the Armed Forces prepare for and help equip them to fight in the harshest desert conditions.
