A north-east marathon man will take on his toughest challenge yet to raise funds for deprived children overseas.
Mark Calder, 36, embarks on the 100 mile White Rose Ultra 100 tomorrow.
The Insch man will be doing so in aid of Embrace the Middle East, a charity which tries to change the lives of under-privileged slum-dwelling youngsters. His target is £1,900 – a mile per child.
The money will be used to treat intestinal worms in poor Egyptian youngsters, a relatively simple process but one their families cannot afford.
When youngsters are infected with worms they cannot properly digest, which causes them severe stomach problems.
The gruelling race takes in part of the Pennine Way and Mr Calder expects it will take the best part of 24 hours to complete.
Mr Calder – who splits his time between working for the charity and lecturing in anthropology at Aberdeen and Stirling universities – said: “I’ve ran quite a few marathons and shorter ultra-marathons in the past. I wanted to do a 100-miler for a while but obviously it’s a big undertaking.
“It’s a pretty daunting prospect for me, I’m not taking it for granted that I will finish.
“For me I heard the stories about these kids who can’t enjoy themselves in the way that I can, they aren’t allowed to go to school when they have this problem, and for the sake of £19 I thought I should do this.
“I think the biggest concern is making sure you’re not out there longer than you have to be. I think you’d be surprised how easy it is to forget to eat.
“When I did 73 miles on the Cumbria Way I thought I was going to have to pull out but I had a baked potato and chilli at one of the stops and then felt absolutely fine and was able to finish.”
To donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-calder3
